58 
SECOND BOOK. 
ance from the rest of the blossoms, which bear the 
pistils. The palm and begonia give other examples 
of the stamens in one flower and the pistil in 
another. 
4. Again, in the nutmeg we shall find none but 
female flowers on some of the trees, and only male 
flowers on others. 
But how is the pollen to pass from one flower to 
another when they are so widely separated? It 
must either float through the air, or some little 
friends must be at hand to carry it! Yes, that is 
exactly what is done. 
5 . A writer thus describes what the little friends 
of the flowers do. He says: 
“Most persons in the West Indies have noticed, 
at some time or other, butterflies, bees, and 
humming-birds flitting from flower to flower in 
the bright sunlight. The butterflies dart their 
long probosces right into the corollas: the bees 
creep into the flowers, and the humming-birds, 
apparently motionless, but really beating their 
wings with wonderful rapidity, remain poised in 
front of a flower whilst they probe it to the bottom 
with their long and slender beaks. 
6 . “ The humming-birds, the bees and the butter- 
flies, the beetles and the moths, all go to the 
flowers to rob the nectar — a juice containing sugar. 
“ But no matter how the several parts are 
arranged, they cannot get at the nectar without 
