44 THE REIGN OF LAW. 



reduced. But when we come to the last question 

 — By what process of natural consequence have 

 these elementary organs of Three within Three 

 been developed into so many various forms of 

 beauty, and made to subserve so many curious 

 and ingenious designs ? — we find nothing but 

 the vaguest and most unsatisfactory conjectures. 

 Let us take one instance as an example. There 

 is a Madagascar Orchis — the "Angraecum sesqui- 

 pedale" — with an immensely long and deep nec- 

 tary. How did such an extraordinary organ come 

 to be developed ? Mr Darwin's explanation is 

 this. The pollen of this flower can only be re- 

 moved by the proboscis of some very large Moths 

 trying to get at the nectar at the bottom of the 

 vessel. The Moths with the longest probosces 

 would do this most effectually ; they would be 

 rewarded for their long noses by getting the most 

 nectar ; whilst, on the other hand, the flowers with 

 the deepest nectaries would be the best fertilised 

 by the largest Moths preferring them. Conse- 

 quently, the deepest-nectaried Orchids, and the 

 longest-nosed Moths, would each confer on the 

 other a great advantage in the "battle of life." 



