164 
rOPULAH SCIENCE BEVIEW. 
direction as the flower withers. Similar movements take place 
in the stamens, and, from the facts just mentioned, it is pretty 
clear what is the meaning of all these bowings and curtseyings. 
If the stigmas be in the horizontal or deflexed position when 
the bee with pollen-dusted back is groping about among the 
threads of the corona, it is clear that the insect is, very unwit- 
tingly perhaps, not onl}?- securing his own dinner, but adopting 
the best means of ensuring a similar repast for future genera- 
tions of insects ; at any rate, he is doing his best to secure the 
formation of fruits and seeds. 
The fruits, in some cases, as in the case of the granadillas of 
the West Indies, are highly prized for the refreshing, perfumed 
juice which surrounds the seed. There is one drawback to their 
use in the West Indies. The plants make delicious shady arbours, 
says Jacquin ; their flowers are beautiful and fragrant, their fruit 
cooling and richly flavoured ; but these qualities offer attrac- 
tions to other beings besides human creatures. Squirrels are 
partial to the fruit, and snakes are partial to the squirrels, while 
men, however tolerant of squirrels, are not fond of snakes as 
a rule. 
The granadilla, as usually seen, bears a fruit of the size 
and form of a swan’s egg, and of a rich olive-yellow colour 
externally. It is not unfrequently ripened in hothouses in 
this country. The pulp is highly perfumed, and the flavour 
is recherche ; but perhaps the best way to eat them is to make 
them into a conserve — eocperto crede. The granadilla is not 
the only edible variety; there are several others, such as P. 
laurifolia, P. edidis, a purple-fruited variety, by some preferred 
to the granadilla, and the “ tumbo ” of Peru, P. macrocarpay 
very like the granadilla, but having a fruit as big as a quartern 
loaf. 
Now for the legend concerning these flowers, on which indeed 
their very name depends, and which runs thus: — When the 
Spanish Jesuits visited South America, after the conquest of the 
tropical portions of that continent, in their zeal for the propaga- 
tion of tlie faith and for the enlightenment of the untutored In- 
dian, they appealed to the Passion flowers, with whose beauty they 
were struck, as signs and symbols of the passion of our Lord. 
The outstretched hands of the scoffers were supposed to be 
represented by the palmate leaves which some of the Passion 
flowers bear. The tendrils symbolized the scourge. The sepals 
and petals typified tlie apostles, two of whom — Peter, who 
denie<l, and Jud:us, who betrayed the Saviour — were absent; 
and lienee there are only ten segments to this part of the flower 
— five sepals and five petals. The corona corresponded to the 
halo or nimbus of glory ; or, as some say, to the crown of thorns. 
The five wounds w'ere pourtrayed in the five anthers, and the 
