BARBERRY. 53 



him, and they often draw with them the petals, and the 

 flower closes when its sensitive organs are pressed. > 



On close inspection it appears to us that the parts of fruc- 

 tification could not perform their office without being slightly 

 touched, and that to remedy this apparent inconvenience, 

 the blossoms contain particles that seem particularly at- 

 tractive to various kinds of insects, who, while seeking 

 their food, press on the chives, and thus assist nature in 

 the procreation of the seed. May not this in some degree 

 account for the blighting effects of this shrub, that by 

 its May-flowers allures insects which breed on the 

 branches, and then feed their progeny on the nutritious 

 juices of the surrounding blades of young corn? Proba- 

 bly these very insects are the cause that the barberry-bush 

 is so much frequented by small birds. 



Linnseus observed, " that when bees in search of honey 

 touch the filaments, the anthers approximate to the 

 stigma, and explode the pollen." 



Dr. Smith thus notices this curious phenomenon. " The 

 stamens of such flowers as are open, bend back to each 

 petal, and shelter themselves under their concave tips. 

 No shaking of the branch has any effect upon them ; but 

 if the inside of the filaments be touched with a small bit 

 of stick, they instantly spring from the petal and strike 

 the anther against the stigma. The outside of the fila- 

 ment has no irritability, nor has the anther itself any ; 

 as may easily be proved by touching either of them with 

 a blunt needle, a fine bristle, a feather, or any thing which 

 cannot injure the structure of the part. If a stamen be 

 bent to the stigma, by means of a pair of scissors applied 

 to the anther, no contraction in the filament is produced. 

 From all this it is evident, that the spring of the stamens 

 is owing to a high degree of irritability in the side of the 

 filament next the germ, by which, when touched, it con- 

 tracts, that side becomes shorter than the other, and, 

 consequently, the filament is bent towards the germ. 



