84 
complexity of ttie combinations which have rendered it 
possible.” (Janet, Final Causes.) 
Let us now look upon a flower from this point of view. I 
need not describe it any further than is necessary for my 
argument. It will be enough to remind my hearers that it is 
the reproductive apparatus of the plant, and that it is made 
up of leaves variously modified. The two most important 
series of transformed leaves are the stamens, which produce 
the sperm-cells in the form of the pollen-grains, and the 
carpels which develope the ovules, within which the germ -cells 
are stowed away. Around these are grouped the generally 
showy corolla and calyx, which serve partly as protective 
envelopes to the internal organs, and partly as sources of 
attraction to insects. The fundamental mark of design in a 
flower is the distinction between the internal organs. In 
these we have two series of cells, — the sperm-cells or pollen- 
grains and the germ-cells, which are part of the ovules, both 
of which advance to a certain stage independently of each 
other, and then perish if they are not brought into contact. 
The whole purpose of the flower is to secure their being 
brought into contact. In the vast majority of flowers, more- 
over, the pollen does not fall directly upon the ovules ; it is 
arrested at a halfway-house, the stigmatic surface of the style. 
It then begins to grow and to emit the long slender tubes 
which push their way down the style and reach the micropyle 
of the ovules. Only microscopic observers know of the diffi- 
culty of following out any further the process of fertilisation 
from the excessive minuteness of the objects in question. 
Any good text-book will supply technical details which I 
can hardly give here. 
In many flowers further and more complex devices are 
introduced to secure cross-fertilisation by insects. Whole 
orders are more or less adapted to insect visits. If a flower 
is what is called zygomorphic, i.e. } symmetrical only in one 
plane passing (to speak popularly) down through its middle, 
such a flower has been altered to attract insects. Such are 
orchids, pea-blossoms and their kin. Pelargonium, Tropgeolum, 
and balsams. So much attention has been paid to this subject 
lately that I may be excused going into particulars. But for 
the purposes of my argument, consider the significance of all 
these phenomena co-existing, and co-operating for one 
ultimate purpose, the production of seed. We have, — 
(1.) The development of pollen and of ovules in distinct 
organs. 
(2.) The secretion of honey. 
