Very small insects creeping in the bottom of the flower 

 get their legs caught in this narrow space and are held fast. 

 If they have strength to pull away from the tooth, the leg- 

 then goes into the slit, from which there is no escape. The 

 only advantage to the flower in this and the previous exam- 

 ple, would seem to he to punish intruders ; but the latter 

 flower has honey guides inviting all, if that is to be con- 

 strued as their object, which the writer does not allow ; 

 certainly there is no sign to the small fry to "keep out." 



Azalea viscosa, Cnicus miiticui^, Nicotiana, several species 

 of /Silene, etc., which have viscid secretions on or near the 

 flower, are more considerate, as these give warning to the 

 ants not to trespass, but quite a number of small winged 

 insects are hopelessly glued down. In the case of Azalea 

 with its glands, the insects ma}^ perhaps be digested as in 

 Dromra, but it does not appear to be the case in the others. 

 The insects entrajiped are quite diminutive and the numbers 

 comparatively small, so it would seem that the loss of 

 nectar taken by them would be only a trifle, but a trifle 

 saved for more efficient fertilizers may in the long run be 

 of much importance to the flower. Who knows ! 



But an insect's life is subject to calamities ; what with 

 traps, pitfalls, smothering, drowning, starvation, assassina- 

 tion by other insects, and takings off by l)irds, etc., the 

 bees and the butterflies have their full share of trials and 

 tribulations, which are rarely noticed except by the close 

 observer of Nature, whose sympathy is often aroused. 



AGENTS AFFECTING COLOR. 



Dilute nitric acid changes purple or blue flowers and 

 leaves as violets, heliotrope, vinca, and leaf of coleus, etc., 

 to a red color ; yellow flowers of oxalis and daffodil U) 

 brick-red ; other yellows as in tulip, lantana, alamanda, 

 cattleya citrina, to a blue-green. 



It affects differently the different petals of Cytisus caua- 

 rieiisis, chano-in2' the "standard" to areen and the wings lo 



