36 



HA R D WICKE ' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



for the nectary, because only by its being placed near 

 to the essential organs, could insects be attracted to 

 those parts where their visits would be of service. 

 We also find that it, perhaps, occurs most frequently 

 in close connection with the ovary, the very heart of 

 the flower, towards which the current of life sets with 



regale their friends with the sweets, secreted by the 

 yellow glands at the bases of their leaves, and, what- 

 ever may be said to the contrary, afford a triumphant 

 proof that plants are not exclusively selfish and 

 utilitarian, as we in our half-knowledge are some- 

 times apt to imagine ! In some cases, as amongsi 



Fig. 26.— Viola tricolor. 



Fig. 27. — Garden Lily: a, entrance to Fig. 28. — Nemophila metadata* 

 nectary of Lily. 



the fullest energy, and towards whose perfecting all 

 the other parts of the plant continually strive. Still 

 nectaries are in some instances found upon leaves, or 

 what are to all intents and purposes nectaries, and it 

 is always pleasant to hear the contented hum of the 

 bees amongst the young laurel leaves, for with no 

 ulterior ends of their own, the prosaic green bushes 



the lilies, nectaries are found upon the petals, but 

 more frequently they are, as before stated, in imme- 

 diate association with the central axis of the flower, 

 especially with the base of the ovary, and stamens, 

 but as there is no special provisions for a nectary 

 in the theoretical idea of a flower, the adaptation of 

 the various parts to serve the purpose, shows the 



