DED UC TIO N. A NTICIPA TION. 1 3 9 



flower and free the pollinia. After watching 

 flowers for hours to see Nature at work, he was 

 rewarded with a verification of his interpreta- 

 tion. 1 In the description of another case he 

 said, " From the large size of the flower, more 

 especially of the viscid disk, and from its won- 

 derful power of adhesion, I formerly inferred 

 that the flowers were visited by large insects, 

 and this is now known to be the case." 2 He 

 was well acquainted with the general interaction 

 of the parts and their relation to visiting insects. 

 From this and the size, etc. of the parts, he 

 was able to deduce the size and strength of the 

 insect. He had been convinced by theoretical 

 considerations that the pollen of Hedychium is 

 removed by the wings of hovering butterflies, 

 and wrote to India to have the butterflies ob- 

 served in action. Two years later Fritz Miiller 

 observed the process itself. 



Probably no other of Darwin's works illus- 

 trates so well the variety of results which may 

 be deduced from a general principle by inge- 

 nuity and skill in interpretation as does that on 

 the " Fertilization of Orchids." When once 

 he had laid down the proposition that the 

 flowers of many plants are adapted for cross- 



1 Fertilization of Orchids, pp. 119, 120. 



2 Ibid., p. 190. 



