INTELLIGENCE OF FLOWERS 



of those creatures — the ants and bees, among others — wherein, 

 the human form excepted, the proceedings and ideals of this 

 genius are most clearly manifested becomes one of the most 

 curious that we can undertake. It would seem, after all that 

 we have noted, that those tendencies, those intellectual meth- 

 ods must be at least as complex, as advanced, as startling in 

 the Orchids as in the social Hymenoptera. Let us add that a 

 large number of the motives and a portion of the logic of these 

 restless insects, so difficult of observation, still escape us, 

 whereas we can grasp with ease all the silent reasons, all the 

 wise and stable arguments of the placid flower. 



Now what do we observe, when we perceive nature (or 

 the general intelligence or the universal genius: the name 

 matters but little) at work in the world of flowers? Many- 

 things; and, to mention it only in passing, for the subject 

 would lend itself to a long study, w^ begin by ascertaining 

 that her idea of beauty, of gladness, her methods of attraction, 

 her aesthetic tastes are very near akin to our own. But no 

 doubt it would be more correct to state that ours agree with 

 hers. It is, in fact, very uncertain whether we have ever in- 



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