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Of a siiiiilar nature ii^ the scarlet-maroon eye of yellow 

 Coreopsis, the purple centres of white Phlox, Althiea, Hol- 

 lyhock, etc., the criaison zone on a white ground in some 

 varieties of Sweet William, the yellow "eye" of scarlet 

 Tulip, the large black spots on the petals of oriental I^oppy, 

 the different colored lips of Orchids, and the golden bands, 

 and red, glandular dots of LUiiiin auratiun, etc., etc. 



Were these different colored markings a part of the 

 original design of the.liower, or have they been added to a 

 plain self color, and if so, by whom and why? 



Christian Conrad Sprengel's attention was called to this 

 subject in 17<S<S. He first noticed the yellow ring round the 

 mouth of the corolla (jf Myomtls palustrls, L., and "he con- 

 ceived the idea that this might serve to guide insects on 

 their way to the honey. On examining other flowers he 

 found colored dots and lines and other figures at the en- 

 trance to the nectary or pointing towards it, and was accord- 

 ingly confirmed in his idea of [)ath finders or honey guides." 



W. E. Shuckard in his book of British Bees says : 

 "Flowers, within themselves, indicate to the l^ees visiting 

 them the presence of Nectaria, by spots colored differently 

 from the petals. The honey marks surely guide them.'" 



Grant Allen writes as follows regarding these honey 

 guides: "We can hardly resist the influence that they have 

 been cieveloped to guide the bees to the proper ])lace for 

 securing the nectar." 



Prof. iNl. I. Xewbigin in a recent work says: "Their 

 meaning and origin are still very doubtful.'" 



Alice Lounsberry, in her "Guide to the Wild Flowers," 

 refers to the "Road that is plainly marked out for the bee, 

 by a deep, rich veining"" to a gland of nectar. 



G. Henslow remarks: "It has l)een observed that the 

 'spots' are more persistent than the l)asc color of the flower. 

 W^henever they occur as auides or })athfindcrs, which have 

 been determined by insects, they have become hereditary." 



John H. Lovell in the American Naturalist for June, 



