6 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



it could not possibly apply. Thus, some flowers 

 have pistils much longer than the stamens, so that 

 the pollen cannot possibly fall upward onto the 

 stigma, as in the sketcli of a trillium flower. Also, 

 there are flowers whose anthers open away from 

 the centre of the flower and, shedding the pollen 

 outward, stand as a barrier between it and the 

 stigma, as in the flower of the tulip-tree. Yet, in 

 spite of these objections, the theory of Grew was 

 the best so far devised and was accepted in prin- 

 ciple, for it explained tlie mystery of the pollen 

 and its usefulness; but no satisfactory reason had 

 j^et been given for the existence of the colour, 

 fragrance, and nectar, nor their usefulness in the 

 economy of the life of the plant. The mystery 

 hanging about them was all the more enshrouded 

 because great numbers of flowers accomplished 

 their mission though deprived of these endowments. 

 Another half-century rolled by ere new light 

 was thrown on the question, when at length a Ger- 

 man schoolmaster. Christian Conrad Sprengel, ob- 

 served that the bees and insects seemed to prefer 

 those flowers which possess colour, honey, and per- 

 fume, and neglect such as are devoid of them. In 

 1787 he published an admirable volume to prove 

 that, in the former flowers, the insects transport 

 the pollen from stamens to pistil, and in the latter 

 this service is performed by the wind. 



