CHAPTER VII 



ON FLORAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND COLOUR 



" We, having a secret to others unknown. 

 In the cool mountain-mosses, 

 May whisper together ..." 



Henry Kendall, September in Australia. 



Our knowledge of life behind the balder mani- 

 festations of life is as yet so deficient that it would 

 be pure conceit to pretend more than lightly to 

 suggest certain thoughts that may possibly com- 

 mence to explain something of the affinity exist- 

 ing between ourselves and the flowers. That such 

 an affinity does actually exist there appears suffi- 

 cient evidence to warrant our believing, and no 

 one, I imagine, with an interested eye for these 

 matters, would care to pronounce against this 

 evidence without making careful reservations. And 

 if this affinity exists for one it exists for all, though 

 in some, because of the variable nature of the human 



