The Making of Species 
upon the surfaces of the protecting leaves round 
the seed-making parts of the original flowers. 
As these leaves became more efficiently protective 
by assuming colours, shapes, and markings which 
warned animals of their character,:so their 
apparatus for producing scent and honey became 
specialised ; and at this point the insect appeared 
upon the scene as a factor in the life’s success of 
the plant.” 
Such, then, is Kay Robinson’s bold and original 
theory. In some respects it seems far-fetched. 
The natural inclination is to ask, “Is it possible 
that cattle can be so stupid, so blind, as to really 
believe that a snap-dragon is the mouth of an 
animal, or that an orchid is a spider?” 
At present we know so little of animal psy- 
chology that we are not yet in a position to give 
an answer to this question. Horses, we know, 
are apt to be frightened by the most harmless 
things, such as a piece of brown paper lying on 
the road. Mr Robinson’s theory should give a 
stimulus to the study of the mind of animals— 
a study which, if properly undertaken, will 
probably throw a flood of light upon some of 
the problems of evolution. Mr Robinson’s theory 
equally with the ordinarily-accepted hypothesis, 
utterly fails to explain the first origins of colours, 
scents, etc. When once a flower has acquired a 
certain amount of colour, it is easy to understand 
how that flower may attract insects or repel 
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