AGENCY OF INSECTS, ETC. 255 
they must carry the pollen from one flower to another. 
We verified his theory by observations made two years 
ago, and found it to be true in the essential particulars. 
Without giving a scientific description of the flower, it 
is enough for our present purpose to say, that the parts 
consist of three curved tubes, each just about large enough 
to admit a common honey-bee, being a trifie larger than 
a cell in her comb. ; 
There is a showy crest, or attractive platform, projecting 
at the outer end of each tube upon which the bee first 
alights. When going into the flower for the first time 
during the day, she is free from pollen. She brushes 
against a lid which hangs from above, not unlike an old- 
fashioned swinging door of a cat-hole, as sometimes seen 
about barns or corn-cribs. When farther in beyond the 
lid, she comes against the anther, which only discharges 
pollen on the side next to the bee’s back.. After getting 
_ What nectar she can at the lower end of the tube, she 
backs out again, pushing the trap-door in the opposite 
direction. The outside of this door is the only part of 
the stigma upon which the pollen will produce any effect, 
so upon visiting the first tube no pollen adheres to the 
sensitive side of the stigma, although the bee leaves the 
place with her back well powdered. Calling at another 
tube, she dives in as before, this time dusting the outside 
of the lid with pollen which was brought from the tube 
first visited. 
In the early part of June, I examined the common Blue 
Flag (Āris versicolor Linn.) at different times during the 
day, and always succeeded in seeing the bees at work 
while their heads and backs contained an abundance of 
pollen. In wilted flowers, and in some that were fresh, 
I saw bees occasionally get in and out at the side of the 
