The Portland daily press., 1901-01-23
WICKED WAYS OF FLOWERS
They Intoxicate Insects, Murder Birds,
aud Are Guilty of other Immorali-
ties.
lFrom the london News }


At the London Institution Prof. W. b..
Bottomley's second lecture on FLOWERS
dealt with their "insect visitoTs''
The professor began by explaining that
the shapes OF flowers determine how the
pollen shall be carried from one to the
sticky part above the seed box OF anoth-
er. The carrying of the pollen was moth
ing less than the marrying OF the flowers,
ana the insect that carrisd the pollen
was the parson Among flower parsons
there was as much difference as among
human parsons. Dnsky littls gnats werJ
the curates; brilliant butterflies were
archbishops. Flower parsons, like hu-
man parsons, wanted fees The guat was
content with little bit OF pollen, but
the archipiscopal butterfly and the bee
bishop demanded special nectar. Among
human beings near reiaS.yes must not
marry, and It was the same among howsrs
In the buttercup, the "bait" or fee"
was In little glands at the base OF the
petals, and flowers of that character could
be married by many sorts OF insect par
sons with short prohosuides. In monks
hood and other flowers the money was Sc
creted In clvlties out OF reach Of ordinary
lies, and only highly organized insect
could perform the ceremony. The mark
ings OF the nasturtium, the yellow hairs
at the base of the rerianth leaves Of the
iris, and the lines in the threat OF the vi"
olet, were simply signs or directions In
dioating to the INSECT exactly WHARF he
- El...a 1aa md
other flowers thers were platforms for In
scots to stand on while getting the nsc-
tar. Aristolochia were Ike lobster pots,
the interior of the tube being furnished
with hairs pointing inward, so that an
Insect could go in quite easily. though
how to get out again was quite another
story.
Last Friday 1 appear to have greatly
shocked the representative OF The Daily
News, ana this evening am going to try
and shock him more. The reporter wrote
that said Flowers put on gorGeous
hues to attIE ct insects, just as girls
who wish to attract attention wear bright
dresses" and now listen to what The
Daily News remarked: Poets have said
many pretty things about the petals of a
flower. One even likened a young iady's
nose Co this dainty object OF nature.
daughter Prof Bottomlsy gives us
more prosac view of their purpose.
They are, It seems, simply advertisements
signffying TO insects, Nectar Kept here.
Please enter -" They might ne hkenei,
he said, to the signs outside public
houses
There were flowers the arums in partiou-
lar-continued the professor-that delib-
erately made fties tipsy (Laughter.)
lies fouud swees drops of honey upon
the green surface, ana further on they
found swseter drops The liquor became
nd chr Not
ing what they were doing, the insects
went through the .'lobsterpot" hats, and
in the inner chambe they found an ex-
tra-special strong champagne. with the
result that the wretched httl3 creature
tumblsd about anu knocked their heads
against the sticky s1rface Of the seed box.
But when he visitors had In their drunk
enness done what was required of them,
the "lobsuer-pot' hairs withered and so
left the open the door. But, alas for
the depravity or insects Recovering
their senses In the fresh air, thsy saw
other arum public houses, and, not hav-
ing learned wisdom from their drunken
bout, in they went for another spree.
"But,' Prof, Bostomley went on, "a
still lower depth of depravity is reached
by the arum, which is one of the most
Immoral plants you can imagine" Re
calling the later stage, when nothing re-
mains but the bunch OF redberries-eaoh
containing matureu seeo-on stem,
he explained that this time the bright
color was a trick to attract other Great
ures than insects Alasi how treacherous
was the aruml It was anxious to have
the seeds placed in suitable soil, So well
know ing that tine berries wers poisonous,
it induced birds to eat them, whereupon
each unsuspicious littls soDgster lied,
and bis body became small heap OF de-
eaysd organic matter-excelIent soil and
manure Tor the arum seed In the centre
Later the audience learned OF the won
dsrful structure of orchids. and OF how
insect visitors had footstools to stand on
" nile they put their heads through little
windows; OF how, In entering apertures,
they impaistntly knocked aside little OBJ
structing knobs, and thereby all un-
knowingly moved lsvsr that lung pol
len on their backs. and OF how-hut
epaoe does not allow of further allusion
to discoveries with which--as Prof. Bot
tomiey remarked, before wishing his au-
aiense Happy New fear-the name Of
Charles Darwin viii forever be associated.