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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLV 



his experiments with Lobelia erlnus. He says: "I cut 

 off the petals of some and only the lower striped petals 

 of others and these flowers were not once again sucked 

 by the bees, although some actually crawled over them. 

 The removal of the two little upper petals alone made 

 no difference in their visits." 



Experiment No. 3. — July 26. Time of observation one 

 half hour, from 10:40 to 11:10 a.m. Blossoms in the tri- 

 angular arrangement. 



At point (a) 3 petals are replaced loosely. 



At point (b) same blossom entire as before. Control. 



At point (c) petals alone as in preceding experi- 

 ments. 



With these petals now carelessly affixed to the blossom 

 at (a) from which the corolla had been entirely cut 

 away, the number of inspections is at once as frequent 

 as for the control at {b). It appears that color and 

 texture more than normal form and arrangement first 

 direct the bees to inspect the blossoms. 



Experiment No. 4.— July 26. Time of observations 

 one half hour, from 11 :15 to 11 :45 a.m. Blossoms in the 

 triangular arrangement with the following change from 

 the preceding experiment. 



At (a) cloth petals of an artificial rose are carefully 

 arranged and pinned in position to simulate an open 

 cotton blossom. The color of those petals approximated 

 the creamy yellow of a natural cotton blossom; the tex- 

 ture, however, was very different. 



At (b) control. Same blossom entire as in the preced- 

 ing experiment. 



