, 1877-03-24
Victor Hugo's New Poem :
"The Legend of the
Ages"
" L'Assommoir," q Realistic
French Novel Of tho Most
Revolving Type.
The Cheyenne Indians 49, Terrible
Ordeal Endured by Would
Be Braves,
Turtle-E Eggs .-- Skunk-Bites -.-
Protective Mimicry.-.Ants
..sStone Rivers.
LITERATURE.

...Stone Rivers.
LITERATURE.
FERTILIZATION OF PLANTS.
3 kaTok fokhs II rE II ssS eE III giNaboM
q SuA1as' r. Rtn~HS Hsx II Yotk: Al f. S s
CO. ch!ssgo: lisdlcy Bros. i CO. srrles, q.
In 17o3, the German naturalist, Z. X. sprcuge1,
Asbt cnlcd the attention Of botanfsta to tho sub
tect Of tho cross-fcrttlzation Of flowers, In re-
mbrkAb1e book entitled tThc Secret Of Nature |
Displayed" Tho most important discovery
proclaimed by the author was that Of the essen
tlat part which insects take Ii The fertilization Of
many species Of plants. sprengsl's rcvcla~ !
tions wero not suceceded BY any
further notable developments until Dar-
win published, In 1857, his observations
upon the fertilization Of tho kidnoy-bcan; and,
three years later, work "On the Contrivnncc
AEe Fcrtilized by Insects" sluco tho
appearance OF tho latter work, many
students Of Nature have been engaged III
Investigating the secrets Of tho fertilization Of
plants, and much valuable light has becn
thrown upon the inviting subject. Mr. Darwin
has given more or kss tirno to experiments IN
this direction during tho last thfrtY-seycn years.
An Interesting section OF hts work on "Anatnals
and Plants under Domcstlcatton," EaFc many
curious results Of his observations, and tho book
now before us statcs tho evidences gained by
elvcn years. study Of the question with particu-
9ar reference 10 tho effects Of close interbsecd-
Ing, aud to other points connected With tho SUBJ
tuct Of hetedity.
Tho bulk Of this last volume Is devoted to
detailed account Of tho experiments prncticed
- A., Sts-r
points which these havo afforded. Every ono
who knows anything Of Mr. Daswin's methods
Of study will understand how cautiously his
Investigations wcre conducted, and With what
scrupulous pains and honesty thetr products
wcre notcd Tho popular reader will be 6atla-
fed to resign to tho practical botanist en OK
limitation Of thls portion Of tho book, md give
exclusive heed to the final chapters, which sum
up tho discoveries made, and the conclusions
to which they have led, .......
Mr. Darwin has obtained abundant proof that
ts9 msfy q piaes sss nseSes eS
Sruetifcd BY pollen from other plants, Or at
least from other flowers on. tic saulo plant.
Many species will not bear seed unless they arc
again, fnany species continue fertile and luxu.
riant, although for generations the tiowcrn ro-
ceiye none but their own pollen. There is 40
infinite diversity r. the habits 81 plants e tlts
thae, in tho greater number Ct cases, the seed ia
more plentiful, aud tho seedlings arc stronger
when cross-fcrtilizatiou has been effected.
compllshed az: 70 arst, insects of tic or,ers of
Hylncnoptcra, Lcp,doptcra, and Dipters, and, In
some parts Of the world, btrdsi second, the
wind; and, thlsd, With so1ne aquatic plants, cur
rents OF water, The conspicuous co1ors and tho
olor8 Of flowers servo TO attract iusccts which
visit thcm TO feed upon their atofcs OF pollen
and OF nectar. eprengel, Darwin, and others,
suprose that not only tho bright co!ors, but tho
pose Of guiding lnaects to tho ncctary. Not
q few flowers arc bnth conspicuous and otor.
ferrous. White Is tho most common color, and
IL the most often associated With fragrance. Of
rcd flowers only SO percent smell aweetly, while
OF white ones 14.6 per cent arc sweet-eccntcd.
Aioat flowers which depend On twilight or night
tnsetts for fertilization emtt thesr oder e1c!N-
All ordinary flowers arc 50 far open when in
full bloom that insecta can force passage Into
them, but, by being 50 constructed, they arc
liable to great l1sa ot pollen. from tan wasn aS,
Toprovtlla agalnst injury from thls loss much
moro pollen Is produced than ia needed TO icr.
tlllEo the howeI. A blossom Of the Dandelion
r@ony, a,s54, ,oo0 grutns. IL has been estlmuted
that, III ths howcrs Of tho Htsarta, theE9 arc
7,o00 grains Of pollen for every ovule. 4 slnslo
flower Of tho Lbiseaa will produce 4,81 pollen
izc ali tic oyulcs. fusects bear tie pollen ad-
herring to their bodies, from flower to Aowet,
over great distances. Frequent instances arc
recorded Of their th,is carrying II halt mile.
Is usual to him, that VIC owc the beauty and
tho odor Of flowers TO tho e1lstencc OF tnsecta,
various notifications In thcir structure no also
purpose OF attracting these winged visitors. u
has been proved that largo and snowy flowers
aro much more frequently visited oy Insects
than arc smnll, .nconepleuous oncs; hence theso
probable that shoNy flowers lavc had their COZ
on and slxe developed for tho guidance Of In
scets. DaEwIu queries IT inconspttuous aoWera
e saS' .yoa 0 .be Seasns 9:}ts 3. sAanss sset.
eouaItion. ID sith,er cssa he considers Il unlike
t he hsgs ssn D snaa ana .ots. t4 os
generations. We're they not oceasiona!ly cross
1cstllIzed, aud benefited By the process ho think
thcywould probably beconc permanently closed
TO as altogether to prevent ctoss-fertilizatl0n.
Tho fact that bees gathering honey, and In
sects feeding on pollen, conhno themselves al
long as they can to flowers Of the ssme spoeies
fa,ors ths stos.ts1llsat'oa IT, 81 psnts Az
aud modern observers have confirmed L
BY finding that hive and humble-bces gen
rally keep 70 one species Of aoxess Ina in gafMdet M
reason of this i. probably to save time, = "
instct, having once learned how TO stand In tn
best posstiou on tho dowes. and Just where ant
how far to insert Ito pfoboseis, caG work iaste
lily changing. A to the number Of flower
which bees Walt In : given time, Darwin has Oh
served that ln exactly ono minute . humble.be
visited twenty-iou1 flowers Of tho Liuaria Gym
balarts; another visited In the Same tin
Twenty-Five flowers Of tho Symphoriearp1
rae<1nosa; and = third, seventeen aoMes es
on two plants Of a h;phfHiun'. With
nit Of an Eo.etas1o WA Visited eight times b
hulnolc-bees; in nineteen 1ninutes ercry iao"c
on Nf1aophGa was Visited twiec; and in on
minutu polIcn-collecslng lliye-bec, which work
slower thsn a honey -suck'ng bee, visited ii
loHers OF Campa,sHld. From observations 0
aptant Of Wctdmaus Jrc1b.ea, Darwin est
hare been visited BY humhlo-bces thirty times |
asiugle day. Under circumstances Ike thcs
doNets can hardly escape croaa- fertilization.
But bees sometimes rife the blossoms Of the
eweets without returning any compensation
RaEhlebke4 haYe tick Of M4pG . hola l