April 17, ISto.] 



• KNOWLEDGE 



333 



XATURAL CONVERSION AND EXTINCTION OP PLANTS. 



[1673] — Five years ago I foand thebeaatifal "Poet's Narcissus" 

 RTOwing wild in profusion iu a field within a mile of Chepstow. 

 Last year I had returned to the neitthlxiurhood, and, on poing to 

 gather a few of the elegant blossoms, was surprised to find not a 

 single specimen of the narcissus, but, in sn>all numbers, plants 

 bearing bloisoms which, on slight examination, I concluded 

 were common doable daffodils. With curiosity piqued, I have 

 again this spring gone to the same field, and found that 

 there are now very few of the plants which attracted my 

 attention. I have submitted specimens of them to an able 

 botanist, and he pronounces them to be narcissi! , become double. 

 The flowers are much less than those of the double daffodil, and 

 only one, which I have in a warm room, has yet fully opened. Am 

 I right in supposing that the transformation of the reproductive 

 organs into petals has tended to the e.Ttiiiction of the flowers in 

 this field ? And have snch phenomena been frequently observed 

 among our wild tlowers ? W. II. Greene. 



BEES AND THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS. 



[167-1] — Perhaps yon will allow me to make a few remarks, in 

 the way of criticism, on the botanical papers of a frequent contri- 

 butor to yonr pages, Mr. Grant Allen. 



First, then, as to the statement that bees prefer blue and red to 

 other colours, and that flowers of these hues, especially the former 

 are, par excellence, bee-flowers. 



" Sir John Lubbock has proved," says Mr. Allen (Kkowledge, 

 April 14, 1882) " that bees prefer red and blue to other colours." 

 This statement is rather narrowed, and blue is taken to be the 

 favourite colour, as the following quotations show. 



Hyacinths, it is said, " have acquired a blue pigment to attract 

 the eyes of azure-loving bees." And of the flowers of monkshood, 

 " They have become blue because blue is the favourite colour of 

 bees" (Knowledge, Sept. 29, 1882). And yet the observations of 

 the writer of the above quotations seems scarce to bear out these 

 statements. Thus we find him noting their very frequent visits to 

 other blossoms. 



" Among them the bees are busy already ; for you hardly ever 

 see a willow catkin in fnl! bloom without a bevy of its attendant 

 fertilising insects" (Knowledge, Feb. 23, 1883). 



Of the alder, " Succeed in getting their tiny cone-like fruits well 

 set by wind-fertilisation long before even the willows and elms 

 have been duly impregnated by the honey-seeking bees." 



Of the two species of furze it is said, " Between them they keep 

 up an endless succession of blossoms for the bees" (Knowledge, 

 •Ian. 26, 1883). I do not know of any blue flowers of which so 

 much could be said, and the only red ones that occur to me are 

 red clover and pink heather. With regard to red clover, too, it 

 should be borne in mind that white clover is probably quite as 

 much resorted to. 



To the list of flowers which you scarcely ever see without their 

 attendant bees we must add the greenish-yellow blossoms of the 

 lime-tree. The buzz heard while standing under snch a tree in 

 full blossom, on a fine day, is like that in the vicinity of a hive 

 near swarming ; and this, it should be noted, at a time when the 

 meadows are gay with various coloured blossoms. 



On first reading Mr. Allen's statement that it had been proved 

 that bees prefer red and blue to other colours, I ran over the 

 colcnrs of the flowers on which I had most frequently seen them. 

 I found that red and blue occupied subordinate places in the list j 

 there were many flowers of these colours on which I could not 

 recollect having ever seen them. 



Since then, I have observed carefully the habits of bees with 

 regard to flowers as opportunity occurred, and the general result is 

 a confirmation of the idea that red and blue are not the favourite 

 colours. I am not prepared to offer any theory as to what their 

 favourite colour is, or that they have a favourite colour ; but, among 

 the flowers frequented by them, yellow, greenish-yellow, and white 

 would, I think, have to be placed before red and blue. 



Although the general result has been to confirm the impression 

 that the red and blue bee-flower theory is wrong, at the same time 

 I have seen bees on certain blue flowers previously thought not to 

 be frequented by them. 



I will not, however, multiply my remarks on this point, but pass 

 •en to another. 



Mr. Allen's exposition of the relation between insects and flowers 

 can scarcely be said to be consistent. Monkshood, we are told, has 

 become blue, because " blue is the favourite colour of bees," and 

 " the bluer they became the more conspicuous they looked, and, 

 therefore, the better they got on in competition with their neigh- 

 bours, especially since bees are particularly fond of blue." Yet, at 

 the same time, " they adapted themselves, by the bees' unconscious 



selection, to the insect's form" (Knowledge, Sept. 2!), 1882). In 

 what sense can the bees bo said to prefer the bluo flowers if they 

 select them unconsciously ? 



With regard to the sense of colour in insects, we uro told that 

 " It receives a sense impression from the bright hue of a flower, 

 and it is irresistibly attracted towards it as the moth is to the 

 candle." And, again, wo aro taught that an insect " is really a 

 conscious automaton. It sees or smells food, and is at onco 

 impelled by its nervous constitution to oat it," and " it has no power 

 of deliberation." At the same time, however, " each insect selects 

 the plant that suits it best." and the beotlo " has certain special 

 tastes for certain special hues" (Knowledge, April 14, LSH2). Can 

 it be said to select the plant that suits it best and for which it has 

 a speciul taste, if it is irresistibly attracted to it as a moth to a 

 candle ? 



Perhaps you will allow mo at some future time to continue my 

 remarks on Mr. Allen's botanical philosopliy, and, as I may have 

 mistaken his meaning, or erred through not know^ing some points 

 of his theory which he has thought known to all, I should be glad 

 to hear anything he may have to say on the matter. 



G. W. Bulman. 



CAMELEOPARD OR CAMELOPARD ? 



[1675] — " The case of the came^copard" (Knowledge, p. 273. — 

 R. A. P.). Is this intentional, or a printer's error? It is the 

 popular form, both in spelling and pronunciation. But: — 



Kto-irapCoQ or XiovTO-TrapSoc, 

 Leo pardus, 



Camelo-pardalis (or) lus, 



Canielo-pardus. 



are the Greek and Latin names of the camel-pard and lion-pard 

 respectively. Johnson's Diet. (4to) writes " cameJopard ;" while, 

 curiously. White and Riddle (Lat.-Eng.) give " cameZeopard " as 

 English of Camoio-pardus. F. S. L. 



WHAT ONE SUBSCRIBER HAS GOT OUT OF 

 [1676]— " KNOWLEDGE." 



E. Ken, knee, kneed, kneel, know, knew, keel, Kew, keen, kedge, 



keg. 

 N. Need, new, nod, node, no, now, Ned, nude. 

 O. One, own, old, owed, on, owl, ogle, owe, ode, olden. 

 W. Woe, wen, week, weld, we, wee, weed, ween, won, wed, wedge, 



wend, weld. 

 It. Lodge, lend, lo, low, Lowe, Leo, lode, lee, legend, ledge, led, 



long, lone, leek, lewd, leg. 

 S. Eke, ewe, eloge, edge, eel, elk, Eden, endow. 



D. Doe, dew, den, down, dole, do, done, dog, doge, dee, done, don. 

 O. Glen, geode, gone, glow, God, gold, geld, go. 



E. Enow, end. 



Know, lo, owe, woe, no, glow, doe, owe, go, Leo, do. 



Dew, Kew, knew, ewe, new. 



Olden, Eden, glen, den, ken. 



Down, gown, one, on, won, wen, own, gone, don, done, keen, ween. 



Keel, eel, kneel, newel. 



Owl, dole, ogle. 



Knee, dee, we, lee, wee. 



Ledge, wedge, kedge. 



Lodge, eloge, doge. 



Leek, eke, elk. 



Wend, lend, end, legend. 



Now, endow, enow. 



Gold, geld. 



God, geode. 



Lode, node, owed, nod, ode. 



Old, wold, weld, led, lewd. 



Kneed, need, weed. 



Ned, wed. 



Dog, leg, keg. 



Long, lone. Beccabunga. 



[1 insert the above verbal essay on the permutations and com 

 binations to be formed out of the letters of which the title of thi 

 journal is composed, as a philological curiosity. Doubtless other 

 words may be made from them. — Ed.] 



HOGARTH ON BEAUTY. 



[1677] — It has occurred to me that a few extracts from Ilogar 

 " Analysis of Beauty," published in 1753, would be interesting to 

 the readers of K.vowledge. 



" The active mind is ever bent to be employ'd .... This lo 

 of pursuit, merely as pursuit, is implanted in our natures .... 



