252 UTILITARIAN DOCTRINE, HOW FAE TRUE : 



have been rendered conspicuous in contrast with the 

 green leaves, and in consequence at the same time 

 beautiful, so that they may be easily observed by 

 insects. I have come to this conclusion from findino- it 

 an invariable rule that when a flower is fertilised by 

 the wind it never has a gaily-coloured corolla. Several 

 plants habitually produce two kinds of flowers ; one 

 kind open and coloured so as to attract insects; the 

 other closed, not coloured, destitute of nectar, and never 

 visited by insects. Hence we may conclude that, if 

 insects had not been developed on the face of the earth, 

 our plants would not have been decked with beautiful 

 flowers, but would have produced only such poor flowers 

 as we see on our fir, oak, nut and ash trees, on grasses, 

 spinach, docks, and nettles, which are all fertilised 

 through the agency of the wind. A similar line of 

 argument holds good with fruits ; that a ripe strawberry 

 or cherry is as pleasing to the eye as to the palate, — 

 that the gaily-coloured fruit of the spindle- wood tree 

 and the scarlet berries of the holly are beautiful objects, 

 — will be admitted by every one. But this beauty 

 serves merely as a guide to birds and beasts, in order 

 that the fruit may be devoured and the manured seeds 

 disseminated : I infer that this is the case from bavin" 



o 



as yet found no exception to the rule that seeds are 

 always thus disseminated when embedded within a 

 fruit of any kind (that is within a fleshy or pulpy 

 envelope), if it be coloured of any brilliant tint, or 

 rendered conspicuous by being white or black. 



On the other hand, I willingly admit that a great 

 number of male animals, as all our most gorgeous birds, 

 some fishes, reptiles, and mammals, and a host of 

 magnificently coloured butterflies, have been rendered 



