The Relation of Science and Religion.pdf - Online Christian Library

RELATIONS OF ORGANISMS. 169not come to ripeness at the same time." Insome cases, the pollen is ripened before theseeds are ready; in other cases, the orderof events is reversed. This observation naturallysuggested transference of pollen fromone plant to another; and this, connectedwith the continual coming and going of flies,bees, and butterflies, led to the further discovery,that insects unwittingly perform alarge part of the work needful in order toprovide for fertilization. Mr. Darwin haspointed out that from the paper of RobertBrown in the Linnean Transactions, in 1833 ;and from that of Dr. Hooker in the PhilosophicTransactions for 1854, the peculiar phenomenahad begun to awaken scientific interest.It was, however, when the researchesas to origin of species had given fresh motiveto observatioil concerniilg the relations of differenttypes of organism, that the whole factswere brought to view, separately recorded,and at length systelliatized so as to lead totheir full interpretation. Mr. Darwin hiillselfconcentrated on the orchids as peculiarly interestingand suggestive, while a host of work-* Darwin's Fertilization of Orchids, p. 2; Lubbock's BcientifEaZectures, p. 8.