Flowcj's and their Pcdicrces. 



ment of its stamens. Or, to put it more plainly, 

 while the Canterbury bell has hit upon one mode 

 of adaptation in the form of its tube, and while 

 the primrose has hit upon another mode in the in- 

 sertion of its stamens, the daisy has hit upon both 

 together, and has combined them in a single flower. 

 And now, my dear Smelfungus, having given way to 

 your prejudices upon this matter, allow me to assure 

 you that nothing will induce me to enter into the 

 further and wholly immaterial difference between 

 hypogynous and epigynous corollas. For every one 

 but you, the very names, I am sure, will be quite 

 sufficient apology for my reticence. These, in fact, 

 are subjects which, like the ' old familiar Decline and 

 Fall off the Rooshian Empire,' had better be discussed 

 Mn the absence of Mrs. Boffin.' 



When the ancestors of the daisy had reached the 

 stage of united tubular blossoms, like the harebell, 

 with stamens fastened to the inside wall of the tube, 

 like the primrose, they must, on the whole, have re- 

 sembled in shape the flowers of the common wild 

 white comfrey, more nearly than any other familiar 

 English plant. The next step was to crowd a lot of 

 these bell- shaped blossoms together into a compact 

 head. If you compare a cowslip with a primrose, 

 you can easily understand how this is done. Accord- 



