Joty—The Bright Oolours of Alpine Flowers. 147 
brightest will be the fittest, and this condition, with the fact of 
heredity, will encourage a race of vivid flowers. On the other 
hand, the more scant and uncertain root supply, and the severe 
atmospheric conditions, will not encourage the grosser struggle for 
existence which in the valleys is carried on so eagerly between 
leaves and branches, and so the struggle becomes refined into the 
more ethical one of colour and brightness between flower and 
flower. Hence the scanty foliage and vivid bloom would be at 
once the result of a necessary economy, and a resort to the best 
method of securing reproduction under the circumstances of 
insect fertilizing agency. Or, in other words, while the luxuriant 
growth is forbidden by the conditions, and thus methods of 
offence and defence based upon vigorous development, reduced in 
importance, it would appear that the struggle is greatly referred 
to rivalry for insect preference. It is probable that this is the 
more economical manner of carrying on the struggle. 
As regards the conditions of insect life in the higher alps, it 
came to my notice in a very striking manner that vast numbers 
of such bees and butterflies as venture up perish in the cold of 
night time. It appears as if at the approach of dusk these are 
attracted by the gleam of the snow, and quitting the pastures, 
lose themselves upon the glaciers and firns, there to die in 
hundreds. Thus in an ascent of the Todi from the Fridolins 
hiitte I counted in the early dawn sixty-seven frozen bees, twenty- 
nine dead butterflies, and some half-dozen moths on the Biferten 
glacier and firn. These numbers, it is to be remembered, only in- 
cluded those lying to either side of our way over the snow, so that 
the number must have mounted up to thousands when integrated 
over the entire glacier and firn. Approaching the summit none 
were found. The bees resembled our hive bee in appearance, the 
butterflies resembled the small white variety common in our gar- 
dens, which has yellow and black upon its wings. One large moth, 
striped across the abdomen, and measuring nearly two inches in 
length of ‘body, was found. Upon our return, long after the sun’s 
rays had grown strong, I observed some of the butterflies showed 
signs of reanimation. We descended so quickly to avoid the 
inconvenience of the soft snow that I had time for no observa- 
tions on the frozen bees. But dead bees are common objects 
upon the snows of the alps. 
5 L2 
