December 17, 1886.J 



SCIENCE. 



563 



ripe, and not befcji-e, offer attractive colors, gen- 

 erally red, so that the seeds contained in them 

 may be swallowed by animals and then serve their 

 normal function. 



To understand the coloring of flowers, one must 

 remember that the object is to have the pollen 

 carried from the anther of one flower to the 

 stigma of another, and thvis to secure cross-ferti- 

 lization. The well-known experiments of Darwin 

 showed that self-fertilized flowers bear fewer and 

 smaller seeds, and when these seeds are planted 

 they develop into smaller, weaker plants, than 

 those resulting from cross-fertilization. Dr. Wal- 

 lace then described the familiar methods by which 

 cross-fertilization is effected and self-fertilization 

 avoided. The anther and the stigma ripening at 

 different times, the mysterious self-sterility of 

 some pollen, the bending-down of the stigma 

 away from the anthers, and the separation of the 

 stamens and pistils in two distinct flowei's, are 

 among the simple modes of avoiding self-fertiliza- 

 tion. The more complex ways, such as varying 

 the length of pistil and stamens in different 

 flowers so that pollen fiotn a short stamen will 

 reach a long pistil, and vice versa ; the innumer- 

 able kinds of springs and triggers and traps to re- 

 tain insects and si^rinkle their heads and backs 

 with pollen, — all show the extreme harmony be- 

 tween the vegetable and the animal world. And 

 if a still clearer demonstration of this is needed, 

 we have it in the extreme specialization of some 

 plants to particular insects. Such facts abound ; 

 and in the case of an alpine sjiecies the same 

 flower, when growing in low regions, where bees 

 abound, is adapted to them, and in high regions is 

 adapted lo the visits of butterflies. 



Dr. Wallace then gave a brief explanation of the 

 existence of self-fertilized plants. The object is not 

 cross- fertilization, but a slight change in conditions. 

 If the external conditions are rough and varied, 

 self-fertilization is sufficient ; but when the envi- 

 ronment becomes equable and monotonous, then 

 deterioration results, new blood is necessary, and 

 the devices for cross-fertilization are evolved, and 

 some may imagine that in the course of geological 

 time, changes from the one to the other have gene 

 on according as the desired variations could be 

 best obtained. For example, if a self-fertilizing 

 flower is tending to die out, it may adopt cross- 

 fertilization ; if the insects that visit it die out, it 

 may return to self-fertilization, 

 , In conclusion. Dr. Wallace expressed the view 

 that insects had no aesthetic pleasure in color at 

 all, but that this faculty was reserved for man 

 alone, and served as a mark of his distinction. 



Dr. Wallace also delivered a lecture on the 

 ' Origin and characteristics of island life ' before 



the students of Johns Hopkins university. The 

 lectures were delivered in a clear and easy man- 

 ner, and possessed that indefinable attractiveness 

 which comes from many years of original re- 

 search. It was a high privilege to listen to the 

 words of one who had independently thought out 

 the theory that bears Darwin's name, and has been 

 intimate for years with Darwin himself. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The December number of the Political science 

 quarterly seems to us the strongest that we have 

 yet seen. Economics are represented by Horace 

 White's article on 'The future of banking' and 

 Herbert L. Osgood's ' Scientific socialism ; ' law, 

 by Professor Burgess's dissertation on von Hoist's 

 account of the public law of the United States — 

 published in the Handbuch des oeffentlichen rechts 

 der gegemvart, in monographien, under the edi- 

 torial direction of Professor Marquardsen of 

 Erlangen — and by Professor Goodnow's article 

 on 'The executive and the courts;' history, by 

 the conclusion of John E. Bowen's valuable sketch 

 of the ' Conflict in Egypt ; ' while Prof. George B. 

 Newcomb's article on ' Theories of property ' is 

 partly historical, partly legal, and partly eco- 

 nomic. The most popular article is undoubtedly 

 Mr. Osgood's • Scientific socialism,' which is a 

 pleasantly written account of the life and eco- 

 nomic teachings of Rodbertus. Professor Good- 

 now's article is a valuable and scholarly essay in 

 the field of administrative law, and Professor 

 Burgess's able criticism of von Hoist takes rank 

 as the most valuable article of the number. We 

 would call particular attention to the book-re- 

 views, which seem to us, in point of discrimina- 

 tion, treatment, and literary style, the models of 

 what attractive and valuable book reviews should 

 be. There is no space wasted on valueless works 

 or such as contribute nothing new in the way of 

 thought or presentation to pohtical science, no 

 twisting and turning of isolated passages, and no 

 attempt to write essays on the subjects of which 

 the books selected for notice treat. The reviews 

 are real reviews, straightforward scientific judg- 

 ments well expressed. We would select as partic- 

 ularly good the notice of recent books on the rail- 

 way problem by Dr. Seligman, that of Clark's 

 ' Philosophy of wealth ' by Prof. Henry C. Adams, 

 and that of Ely's ' Labor movement in America' 

 by Prof. Henry W. Farnam. 



— Prof. Thorold Rogers has not finished inves- 

 tigating the early economic history of England. 

 He has in preparation a work on the early history 

 of the Bank of England, which will present much 

 interesting information drawn from original 

 sources. 



