MIMICRY. 463 



Purposeless Mimicry. 

 Some orchids have a curious resemblance to insects, after 

 which they have accordingly been named the Bee-orchis, Fly- 

 orchis, Butterfly-orchis, &c, but it has not yet been satisfactorily 

 shown what advantage the resemblance is to the plant.* The 

 fungi, known by the name of club-tops, much-branched, flesh- 

 coloured, yellow or white ClavaricB, which often adorn whole 

 tracts of ground in a wood, imitate the structure of corals ; 

 Hydnece are like Sea-urchins, and Geaster like a Starfish, whilst 

 the various species of Tremella, Exidia, and Guepinia, which are 

 flesh-pink, orange, or brownish in colour, and the white trans- 

 lucent Tremellodon gelatinosum, resemble gelatinous Sponges. 

 The small stiff Toadstools (Marasmius) which raise their slender 

 stalks on fallen pine-needles, remind one of the rigid Acetabu- 

 larice. Other Toadstools, with flat or convex caps exhibiting 

 concentric bands and stripes, such as the different species of 

 Craterellus, have an appearance similar to the salt-water alga 

 known by the name of Padina. Dark species of Geoglossum 

 imitate the brown Fucoidece ; and one may fancy the red warts 

 of Lycogala epidendron, a plasm oid fungus inhabiting the rotten 

 wood of dead weather-beaten trees, to be red Sea- anemones with 

 their tentacles drawn in, clinging to grey rocks. However far- 



* Sir John Lubbock. ' The Beauties of Nature,' p. 156. — On this point it 

 may be mentioned that Father Kircher, in his Mundus Subterraneus, pub- 

 lished in Amsterdam in 1678, " depicted the genesis of birds, apes, and men 

 by means of the transformation of some orchids. He had been struck with 

 the resemblance of these strange flowers to many animals, and therefore 

 concluded that the latter were derived from the former." (Cf. Varigny, 

 1 Experimental Evolution,' p. 14.) — Per contra, examples abound of men, 

 who, undoubtedly authorities on their own subject, needlessly give them- 

 selves away by ludicrous comments on matters of which they are absolutely 

 ignorant. An amusing instance of this may be found in W. Day's well-known 

 book ■ The Racehorse in Training.' The author of this book, thoroughly 

 versed in his own business, having passed through the stages of an accom- 

 plished jockey, a successful trainer, and an astute owner, in discussing the 

 evils of " sweating" horses, which he ascribes to " theory," points the moral 

 of his tale by alluding to other theories, not excluding that of Mr. Darwin. 

 We are treated to the following effusion : — " We have Mr. Darwin's theory, 

 arising out of Lord Monboddo's idea. His lordship said over a century ago, 

 1 that in some countries the human species have tails like other beasts, and 

 traces Monkeys up to men.' " (' The Racehorse in Training,' 5th edit. p. 90.) 



