126 
WNATORE 
[ Dec. 7, 1882 
Knowing the implicit confidence in the effec.iveuess of this 
kind of co iceal nent, which is instructive iu all creatures fur- 
nished with the nece,sary apparatus, I proceeded to try and test 
this very curious psychological acc mpanime.t of the physical 
machiuvery. I advauced in the full sualight close up to the moth 
—so close that I could see the prominent ‘‘ beaded eyes” with 
the watchfal look—and the roughened outlines of the thorax, 
which served to complete the illusion. So perfect was the 
deception that I really could not fe 1 confident that the black 
spot I was examining was whatI believed it to be. Only one 
little circumstance reassurel me. There was some hole or inter- 
stice ia the outer covering, through which one spot of the inner 
brilliant margin could be seen shining like astar. Certain now 
as to the identity of the motn, I advanced still nearer, and 
fiially I found that it was not till the point of a stick was used 
to move and shake the earth on which it lay, that the creature 
could believe that it was in danger. Then, in an iustant the 
crumpled leaf became a living moth with powers of flight, which 
would have defied capture. 
I recollect that many years ago Mr. Wallace kindly showed 
mea butterfly from the Ea tern Archipelago whose upper wings 
were of a brilliant colour, but which, by the simple act of alight- 
ing oa a branch, and of folding or closing its wings, became 
transformed into the perfect likeness of a growing leaf—a like- 
ness so perfect that even the closest inspection only discovered 
new items of resemblance—inasmuch as the leaf-stalk, as well as 
the venation of the leaf, were all perfectly represented both in 
the structure and in the colouring of the uader-surface of the 
wings. 
I confess that the number and intricacy of the correlated 
growth and instincts which are involved in the e phenome.a 
strike me more and more as wholly outside the sphere of mere 
physical ciusation—by which I do not mean that physical causa- 
tion has not had its own share of instrumentality in the matter, 
but that it affords no satisfy ng explanation of all the elements 
involved. The ordinary phrases of the Natural Selection Theory 
appear in the light of such facts to be little better than lean and 
empty formulze. ARGYLL 
Cannes, November 29 
Double Flowers 
1 AM indebted to Baron von Mueller for the communication 
of double flowers of Zetvathkeca ciliata, which possess interest on 
several grounds, although the changed appearances they present 
are not infrequent. It may be well to premise (1) that the plant, 
like all its f llows of the same order (Tremandracez), is native to 
extra-tropical Australia ; (2) that, under ordinary circumstances, 
it has 4 free sepals, 4 free petal , 8 free stunens in a single 
row, ani a two-celled ovary; (3) that ‘‘ doubling,” in a strict 
sense, is brought about by the multiplication of petals, or by 
the more or less complete substitution of petals for stamen-, or 
pistils, or bo_h. 
The Australian origin of the plant in question’ is so far of 
interest, in this connection, that it affords one more illustration 
of the occurrence, under natural conditions, of double floweis in 
a division of the globe where, according to the late Dr. Seemann, 
such forms are rare. The rarity, however, I believe, is not so much 
in the existence of such flowers, as in the number pf obse: vers, 
at any rate we now know of several case; of the kind. 
Some of the flowers sent by Baron von Mueller were double 
by multiplication of petals, ze. there was a second row of petals 
inside the first, others were double not only by multiplication of 
petals, but also by the partial substitution of petals fur stamens ; 
thus in one of these last-mentioned flswers, there were four 
sepals, three rows of petals, oue of the in.ermost row being 
partly staminoid, and eight stamens in a single row. Of these 
eight stamens, six were perfect and the remaining two partially 
petaloid, one lobe of the ordinarily 4-celled anther being desti- 
tute of pollen, but enlarged into a relatively large petal-like 
lobe with inflected margins. So that according to the old 
notion, this flower affords 2n instance both of progressive and 
of retrogressive metamorphosis, of enhanced and of arrested 
development as-ociated with coupensatory changes. On the 
hypothesis revived by Mr. Grant Allen—for it is no new notion 
—the two outer rows of petals would be stamens flattened out 
of all knowledge, while the inner row and the staminal whorl 
would, I presume, al:o afford him evidence of the truth of his 
opinion. For my own part I prefer to adhere to the established 
order of things, in which the horse precedes, rather than follows 
the cart, and I do so because to do otherwise would be to run 
counter to what we know of the homologies of the foliar and 
floral organs, of Jeaf-buds and flower-buds, and to ignore or 
rather to reverse what we know of the mod: and order of deve- 
lopment of flo vers in general. 
Not being aware of the precise order of evolution in the 
flower in question, I cau only reason from analogy wheu I 
express my 0,inion that the changes it presents and the order of 
arrangements of its parts from the leaves on the flower-stems up 
to the pistil are more consistent with the venerally adopted views 
of morphology thaa they are with Mr. Grant Allen's. Accord- 
ing to his views, so far as I understand them, I can see no reason 
why the sepals as well as the petals should not be flattened 
stamens, and if the sepals why not the bracts? if the bracts why 
not the leaves? The theory would thus do away with the possi- 
bility of indigestion in plants, or at least the primordial plant, 
could not have been troubled in this way, for it would have had 
no digestive org:ns. 
I have only to add that the flowers in question offered no 
explanation of the great peculiarity presented by the existence 
of a single row of stamens in number double that of the petals. 
Possibly this may be the result of bifurcation at a very early 
stage of development. It was hardly to be expected that they 
would throw any light on the equally curious ‘‘ obdiplostemo- 
nous ” arrangement.in the nearly-allied genus Platytheca, in which 
there are two rows of stamens, the outermost being superposed 
or Opposite to the petals, instead of being alternate with 
them, as is usually the case in stamens so placed. A _ possible 
explanation of this in a sense partly consistent with Mr. Allen’s 
views would be to consider the petal as in this case an out- 
growth from the stamen, and not a separate organ, a view that 
has been propounded in the case of Primulaceze and some 
Malvacez, MAXWELL T, MASTERS 
Fruit of Opuntia 
Dr. Ernst’s abnormal fruit of Opuntia, as figured at p. 77, 
appears to be -imilar to one described and illustrated by Zucca- 
rini (Adhandl. d. math. phys. Class., B. iv., Abth. 1., tab. ii.) 
in the case of Cereus serpentinus, but as Dr. Ernst gives no 
details as to the arrangement of the vascular bundles, it is im- 
possible to say that the two cases are exactly parallel. The 
resem jlance to certain gourds (Cucurbits), wherein the upper 
part of the fruit protrudes beyond the dilated end of the flower- 
stalk, may also be pointe out. MAXwW-e Li T. MASTERS 
Hawk Moth Larva 
I FORWARD a sketch of the larva of a hawk moth found in the 
Khasi Hills, Assam, in the po ition it assumes when disturbed. 
Its resemblance to a snake will 5e at once evident. 
The head (just visible in the sketch) and two first segments of 
the body are retracted, and the third pair of legs 
w k.ch 
pale horn colour have a rough rese.ablance to lower jaw or teeth. 
Small imperfect ocelli in the third segment might be taken for 
nostrils. The ocellus on the 5th sezment, which however, is 
not so conspicucus as that on the 4th, rather spoils the general 
effect. 
The colour is olive brown reticulated with black and imitates 
a reptile’s scales very perfectly. The lower parts are black, 
