THE WEB OF LIFE 279 



honey had been removed the visits continued — ^perhaps 

 because of pleasant memories. 



Some interesting experiments made by J. Wery go to 

 show that colour and form of the flowers count for much. 

 He removed the corollas from a number of flowers and left 

 others uninjured. The position of the flowers was changed 

 from time to time. In the one experiment, in the month of 

 June, the uninjured flowers were visited by 107 insects, of 

 which 72 were bees ; the flowers without corollas, but stiU 

 conspicuous, were visited by 79 insects, of which 28 were 

 bees. He also found that artificial flowers were freely 

 visited and that a glass vessel with honey was left alone. 

 In all these experiments there -is the defect that they deal 

 with bees who have already estabUshed associations. 

 Crucial experiments should be made with inexperienced 



In regard to colour, our conclusion is as before. The 

 origin of the coloured substances is a physiological secret 

 of the plant, but in so far as the colour has formed an im- 

 portant part (how important remains to be proved) of 

 the complex of attractions which draw the useful insect- 

 visitors, in so far it will tend to persist and perhaps increase 

 in the course of selection. But there can be little hesita- 

 tion in accepting Claude Bernard's general conclusion : — 



' The law of the physiological finality is in each individual 

 being and not outside it ; the living organism is made 

 for itself ; it has its own intrinsic laws. It works for itself 

 and not for others.' 



Spoiling an Adaptation. — It is well known that the 

 common Bombus terrestris is very much given to biting a 

 hole through the base of the flower of the red clover, and 



