The Newtown bee., 1893-10-06
MIR GIBsON'S LECTURE.

took place last Friday evening in the
 Congregational church. Mir Gibson was
 received by loud clapping from the
 scores of boys, who occupied the front
 seats. The charts were very fine, show ing the flowers, and the manner in which
 the bees and ether insects while gather
 ing honey, cover themselves with pollen
 which is, in this way conveyed by them
 from one flower to another. When MT Gibson pettioned for a patent upon these mechanical charts it was very
 easily obtained as there had never been anything of the kind ever offered for
 patent at the office previously. He spoke of the necessity of humble bees in the propagation of red clover, anu gave the incident of the Australians importing large quantities of the clover which did | not thrive and did not seed at all until | the humble bees were also imported to | carry the pollen on their legs from one | flower to another. Then the honey bee, | which bears the same relation to the white clover as the humble bee to the red. The butterfly, seems to any one not versed in the study of botany, to ke en- | tirely useless, but it has it's use in the | fertilization of flowers, although we see it Hitting so idly from one to another. Ancient bOtanists were acquainted with
 many of these facts concerning the re- atOn of the insects to the flowers, but | they did not get far enough advanced to answer the reason why. This is a won l derful Divine plan and the flowers wei | come the bee as much as the bee the | flower, in very hospitable manner. It is a great system of reciprocity. An cient botanists thought the honey bane- l ful to the flower and must be removed l by the bees. The enlarged cOlored diagrams were fine and showed all the different parts of the flower, the stamens, the anthers, the stigma, the OVary and also the pollen, which would fall on, and stick to his artificial bees, while forcing themselves into the flower for honey. Color and perfume attract the bees, who are rewarded by the honey, and those grasses and corn, which have neither of these, have to depend upon the wind to carry the pollen. There are very tiny hairs to protect the honey from the rains. The ancient bOtanists knew that the pollen was carried to the stigma by bees, but they did not discover the cross fertilization, and that the bees were the
 instruments of conveying it from flower to flower. Mir GibsOn's ingeniOusly con- structed chart, which showed how the
 bee sticks his bill into the blossom, and the pollen showers upon him, produced applause and much merriment among
 the younger part of the audience; also
 the chart where the butterfly came out
 with the pollen sticking to his eyes, anC
 then going to other flowers or another
 part of that flower, and in this manner
 the beauty and fragrance is much in
 creased. MT Gibson gave a diagram or
 the black board, of the rock pigeon, anC
 how cross breeding had produced tho
 fan tail feathers from lG to 4O and saiC
 many wild flowers would become ex'
 tinct, but for the cross fertilization by
 the insects. He also proved (tO th'
 distress of the boys and delight of thu
 parents), that every tiny silk on thu
 corn stalk was for a much more valuable purpose than to smoke, but as corn ha
 neither perfume or honey, the bees ar not attracted to it. The humble bee be
 gins at the bottom of the stalk and zoe upward, while the wasp begins at tn
 top and goes downward. MT Gibsol then surprised the audience by sayinE that cats had much to dO with clover Yes, cats and clover. The field mic
 destroy large quantities of humble be- nests, and as cats destroy mice, tn destruction of the humble bee is held il
 check, Flies also have much to do witt the cross fertilization of many kinds 0 , flowers, but more especially with thos of noXious order. The flies are some times imprisoned in plant of the flow
 CT for T hours, and come out loaded with pollen, or even die there. Tn
 lecture was listened to with great inter est and pleasure and many other point
 brought out and illustrated by tn
 charts. We only hope Mir Gibson cal
 give more such lectures here anothe
 summer for the benefit of the boys an
 girls, as well as the older towns people