"Blossom Hosts and Insect Guests 



The '* old botany " concerned itself with the 

 flowers only after they were dead — that is, plucked 

 from the stalk — and then, having analyzed or sepa- 

 rated them into their parts, asked no further ques- 

 tions about them. The **new botany," on the 

 contrary, concerns itself with the flowers as indi- 

 viduals, studies them in their haunts, and inquires 

 into their habits of life and the purpose of their 

 existence. 



A parallel to these two methods of study is found 

 in the ornithological field — the early ornithologists 

 contenting themselves with shooting and dissecting 

 their bird, and the later investigators studying it 

 while on the wing or occupied with nesting duties. 



The superiority, both in interest and value, of 

 the knowledge of the living flower or the living 

 bird over that of the dead specimen need not be 

 demonstrated. 



In order to appreciate fully the contrast between 

 these widely dissimilar schools of inquiry, it is well 

 to trace briefly the progress, step by step, from the 

 consideration of the mere anatomical and physio- 

 logical specimen of the seventeenth century botanist 

 to the conscious blossom of to-day with its embodied 

 hopes, aspirations, and welcome companionship. 



Most of my readers are familiar with the general 



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