FERTILIZATION IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 217 



CROSS AND SELF-FERTILIZATION IN THE VEGE- 

 TABLE KINGDOM. 



Mr. Darwin, in the title of Lis new work,^ refers only 

 incidentally to adaptations for cross-fertilization, — a subject 

 which has given origin to a copious literature since he opened 

 it anew in his book on the Fertilization of Orchids, in 1862. 

 A new edition of this latter book is on the eve of publication 

 in England, and we believe that this author's scattered papers 

 on cross-fertilization, as secured by various contrivances, are 

 about to be collected, revised, and published in book form. 

 In the volume now before us, Mr. Darwin deals with the 

 effects of cross and self-fertilization, recounts at length the 

 experiments he has devised and carried on, collects and criti- 

 cises the results, glances at the means of fertilization, and the 

 habits of insects in relation to it, and ends with some theoreti- 

 cal considerations of inferences suggested by or deduced from 

 the facts which have been brought to light. 



If writing for the popular press, we should be bound to say 

 that the book is not light reading. Three fourths of its pages 

 and of the chapters are devoted to the details of the experi- 

 ments and the sifting and the various presentation of the 

 results ; and the remainder, although abounding in curious 

 facts and acute suggestions, is yet of a solid character. The 

 bearings of various points upon what is called " Darwinism " 

 are merely touched or suggested, here and there, in a manner 

 more likely to engage the attention of the thoughtful scientific 

 than of the general reader. 



That cross-fertilization is largely but not exclusively aimed 

 at in the vegetable kingdom, is abundantly evident. As Mr. 

 Darwin declares, "it is unmistakably plain that innumerable 

 flowers are adapted for cross-fertilization, as that the teeth 

 and talons of a carnivorous animal are adapted for catching 

 prey, or that the plumes, hooks, and wings of a seed are adapted 



1 The Effects of Cross aiid S el f -Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom. 

 By Charles Darwin. London and New York, 187G. (American Journal 

 of Science and Arts, 3 ser., xiii. 125.) 



