50 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Jan., 1899. 
cunning to bring about the desired result. Sometimes she says to the greedy 
insect: “See, here, in the nectary of this flower is honey. Enter in and take 
thy fill,” and as the insect enters he pushes against a lever, and the anthers 
descend, placing upon him a load of pollen which he deposits on the stigma of 
the next flower he visits. This may be seen in several labiate flowers—those 
of the order to which the coleus belongs. Sometimes the pollen-bearers are 
very sensitive, and when touched by the trunk of the insect they spring 
suddenly forward like the steel jaws of a rat-trap when the bait is touched. 
The trunk of the insect is clasped by them, and as he withdraws it some of 
the precious pollen adheres to it, and is carried to another flower. You may 
see this for yourself by touching the bases of the petals of the Berberry with a 
fine blade of grass. 
But these, you object, are isolated cases, and have no practical bearing. 
There areno isolated cases in Nature. She moves, as she has ever moved, in her 
grand, unchanging, resistless way, and whatever new facts men may discover 
about her can be referred to one of her changeless laws, some of which are 
dimly understood, and of some of which we are doubtless ignorant— 
The very law which moulds a tear 
And bids it trickle from its source : 
That law preserves the earth a sphere, 
And guides the planets in their course. 
And the farmer, gardener, and orchardist can study with much advan- 
tage the lessons taught in the efforts of Nature to preserve the virility of 
her types. In the tea-growing districts of Assam it was found necessary to 
establish seed nurseries far away in the jungle, where there was no liability 
of insects carrying pollen of inferior types to vitiate the expected seed. In 
England recently a certain noble lord went in for fruitgrowing on a large scale, 
but it was found that, though there was an abundant show of healthy-looking 
flowers, the resulting fruit crop was very meagre. Someone suggested that 
perhaps owing to there being no bees in the neighbourhood the fruit had not 
set. A numberof hives of bees were at once introduced, and that season the 
fruit followed the flower in equal abundance. 
The plant above referred to is an orchid. It was sent from New Guinea 
by Sir William MacGregor, and flowered in these Gardensin 1886, and again 
this year. Its name is Cirrhopetalum robustum. It is a veritable fly-trap, 
built on a principle which seems to suggest human ingenuity. Discarding all 
scientific terms, it may be said that the fiower cousists of two leaflets joined 
near their points, but having an opening above, which is filled by a liver- 
coloured organ delicately poised on a slender stalk, like one of those ancient 
rocking stones which are sometimes seen in Scotland and Ireland. Behind this, 
and a little distance from it, there is a little pillar standing, and this has two 
flanges, one on either side, each terminated by a little horn at the top. On 
top of this pillar is a tiny cap, which you can remove with a stiff straw, and 
beneath this are the pollen-masses. 
If you ever smell this orchid you will never desire another whiff of the 
same perfume. It is suggestive of animals whose funerals have been neglected. 
It sometimes scents the whole house. 
Now look at the drawing. To the left, near the top, you will see a profile 
drawing of the organs of the flower with the outer leaves stripped off. A we 
will call the “ balance,’ B the “pillar,” and C the “‘pollen-cap.” (We are 
inventing terms, but what we want is to understand the thing.) 
The little tragedy we are going to witness has been seen here with great 
interest by many persons. As soon as this plant begins to send its peculiar 
odour through the air, quite a number of blue-bottle flies collect in the house, 
and quickly find the plant. A blue-bottle alights on the platform made by 
the yellowish outer leaves, and walks up to the balance. ‘“‘ Here is the very 
place,” says she, “to deposit my eggs.’ She steps gingerly on at the point, 
and walks slowly up in the direction of the arrow in the drawing. But the 
moment she makes a step beyond the centre of gravity, the balance tips up, 
