THE SUPERNATURAL. 39 



nicely adjusted to fit their probosces, or to catch 

 their brows ; there are hair-triggers carefully set 

 in their necessary path, communicating with ex- 

 plosive shells, which project the pollen-stalks 

 with unerring aim upon their bodies. There are, 

 in short, an infinitude of adjustments, for an idea 

 of which I must refer my readers to Mr Darwin's 

 inimitable powers of observation and description 

 — adjustments all contrived so as to secure the 

 accurate conveyance of the pollen of the one 

 flower to its precise destination in the structure 

 of another. 



Now there are two questions which present 

 themselves when we examine such a mechanism 

 as this. The first is, What is the use of the various 

 parts, or their relation to each other with refer- 

 ence to the purpose of the whole ? The second 

 question is, How were those parts made, and out 

 of what materials ? It is the first of these ques- 

 tions — that is to say, the use, object, intention, 

 or purpose of the different parts of the plant, — 

 which Darwin sets himself instinctively to answer 

 first ; and it is this which he does answer with 

 precision and success. The second question, — 



