The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-06-07
CANNY INSECT WORKERS.
They FertiIize Flowers For Strictly UtilL
Sarian Reasons.

They FertiIize Flowers For Strictly Utilk.
sarian Reasons.
A correspondent writes: "The theory
of the origin of flowers by the selection
Of insects is one which has attracted
much attention both in scientific cir
cles and from the general public. Set
forth by Darwin in the Origin Of Spe-
cies. it has been largely developed in
series of interesting publications by Sir
John Lubbock and Mr.. Grant Allen.
Some fresh and interesting light has
now been thrown on it by series Of
experiments recently carried out by
Professor Plateau of the University of
Client. Professor Plateau has arrived at
the conclusion that insects are indiffer-
ent to the colors of the flowers they
visit, and that they are guided to them
In a very subordinate way by sight.
The experiments on which the Belgian
professor bases his farreaching oonclu-
sions are briefly these: Having covered
dahlias in his garden with bits of green
leaf, he found that they were still visit
ed by insects. This seemed so much at
variance with the generally received
view that insects are attracted to flow
ers chiefly by their color that Professor
Plateau instituted prolonged series OF
experiments and observations to put the
matter still further to the proof The
result has been to confirm and strength
en- the conclusions drawn from the first
! experiments. Cutting off the brightly
6olored corollas of such flowers as To-
bella, evening primrose, foxglove, etc.,
he found the remaining green parts
were still visited. Again there are some
brightly colored flowers which are sell
dom or never visited by insects owing
to their lack of honey. Notable among
these is the scarlet geranium of our gar
den. But when little honey was placed
on geranium flowers bees came to them
at once, those blossoms which had not
received honey being passed over.
"Other conspicuous flowers were tried
in similar way with like results. The
experiment of removing the honey bear
| ing parts of a flower and leaving the
brightly colored part, which was sup
posed tc 0e attractive. was also tried
with the single dahlia. Its inner fiorets
were removed, leaving the conspicuous
outer ones, piece of yellow leaf being
placed in the center. No insects went
to these honeyless flowers But as soon
as drop # nectar was placed ON them
| they visited them as freely as before.
Again, Professor Plateau made artificial
flowers with pieces of green leaf, each
furnished with little honey. These
were freely visited by insects. But arti-
fetal flowers made of colored material
were neglected, even when supplied
with honey.
Sin further support Of his views Pro-
fessor Plateau is able to bring forward
sne following facts as to the habits of
insects in visiting flowers: They will
pass freely and with apparent indiffer
ence from one color to another of va
rieties of the same species growing to-
gether in our gardens; they visit great
number of green and greenish colored
| flowers; there are many small and in
conspicuous flowers which are also free
| ly visited. Such is a brief outline of
Professor Plateau's observations and ex-
periments, from which he believes him
self justified In drawing the conclusion
that sight plays a very subordinate part
In attracting insects to flowers. Their
bearing on the theory of the insect origin
of flowers is obvious London Times.
Music Shops on Ocean Liners.
From a single venture five years ago
small shops for the sale of musical in
struments have become a regular thing
on the large liners that sail from Eng
land to India, Australia and the col
onies,
From the beginning the music shop
was quite a success. Perhaps most of it's
trade runs in the direction of cheap
banjos, which are bought by almost ev-
cry man on board before the voyage as
means of passing the time.
Valuable violins are often more easily
disposed of at sea than ON shore, while
even pianos meet with at least four or
five customers each voyage, many peo-
pie disposing of their own instruments
before starting and being readily per-
suaded into buying others to avoid the
middleman on landing
The seabound music shop agent usual
ly travels first class, and as he is gener-
| ally possessed of gentlemanly manners
and glib tongue he meets with better
opportunities for pushing his wares than
he would get under ordinary ciroum-
stances. London Globe.