THE SELF-FERTILIZATION OF PLANTS. 405 



creased fertility), resulting from the crossing of the 

 plants incapable of self-fertilization : 



" But the good, in the case of the Fly and Spider 

 Ophrys is gained at the expense {sic/) of much lessened 

 fertility!" 



And immediately thereupon, he says : 

 "In the Bee Ophrys, great fertility is gained, at the 

 expense {sic/) of apparently perpetual self-fertilization." 



Such self-stultification (so coolly, and complacently 

 committed, too!) is unparalleled, in the annals of 

 thought. Naught but itself could be its parallel. We 

 have known of a humorous individual, who upon being 

 confronted with a fact signally confounding the view 

 he took, then coolly maintained the proposition con- 

 tended for by his adversary. But, we never knew of 

 such a device being resorted to, in all seriousness, as 

 it has here been, by Darwin. 



His argument, the reader will remember, has always 

 been the direct converse of this. When he specified, 

 what the evil of close-breeding was, his argument 

 was, viz., Self-fertilization, or close-interbreeding, is at 

 the expense of much lessened fertility! Here, how- 

 ever, he shows increase of fertility; and, as if he were 

 bent upon starting the ghosts of Aristotle, Bacon, and 

 Comte, horror-stricken, from their graves, he coolly 

 deduces the proposition, that the fertility is gained at 

 the expense of self-fertilization! His argument also 

 was: .Crossing, per se, is productive of the good of 

 "much increased fertility! Here, he shows crossing 

 occasions loss of fertility ! and, then, notwithstanding 



that he has shown evil, where his argument required 

 35 



