COLOR ADAPTATIONS. 
271 
The unselfish acts of all plants as well as of men be¬ 
come a great blessing to the species. 
These contrivances for producing vigorous seeds 
are found only among the fiowers that depend on in¬ 
sects for the dispersion of their pollen. Those ferti¬ 
lized by the wind present few peculiarities. 
COLOR ADAPTATIONS. 
Color also is developed as a means of attracting 
insects. Flowers which need the visits of insects have 
the brightest blossoms. The blue gentian of the val¬ 
ley becomes white high up on the mountain-side. 
The fiowers in the arctic regions, and on mountains 
where there are but few insects, are of brilliant 
colors. Those fertilized by moths flying about after 
dark are mostly white, as that color is best seen in 
the dark. 
This fact is still more significant in animals. In 
the arctic belt the gray hare of our forests is as white 
as the snow. Are there two species, or has one be¬ 
come white by adaptation ? The latter is probably the 
case. The gray hare in our own climate is more or 
less white on the under parts, and there is much vari¬ 
ation as to the amount of white in different indi¬ 
viduals. 
In the winter, when the fox and other carnivorous 
animals find food scarce, it is of advantage to the 
hare to hide from its enemies. This it can easily do, 
if its color is white like the snow, which covers all 
things. ^ow, those individuals having the most 
white are the more likely to survive, and thus would 
