30 EVOLUTION. 



The Fertilization of Flowers. 



The study of the fertilization of flowers shows, as 

 Wilson says, ** that the production of new races and 

 varieties, and through these of new species, is part 

 and parcel of nature's constitution." 



It was found by Darwin " that close interbreed- 

 ing diminishes vigor and fertility, and a cross with 

 another individual is occasionally indispensable." 

 Therefore the necessities of existence lead to new 

 varieties of form. The plant kingdom shows a law of 

 development similar to what prevails in the animal 

 kingdom. 



The manner in which cross-fertilization is produced 

 by winds and insects conveying the pollen of one 

 flower to the pistil of another, and the wonderful 

 adaptation of the forms of flowers to insects, and of 

 insects to flowers, is a fascinating study that will 

 reward the reader of the works of Darwin and Gray. 

 Each peculiarity of color and form is believed to be 

 an element in the reproduction of its kind, and the 

 old theory that each sort of flower was created solely 

 for the enjoyment or use of man is disproved. The 

 flower that has produced variation in color that 

 attracts the insect whose visit is needed for its ferti- 

 lization, or that which has varied in form in a way 

 best to deliver its pollen to the visitor, or to receive 

 it, is perpetuated, and its variation is preserved and 

 increased in subsequent descendants, while the forms 

 less adapted to attract or make use of the visits of 



