THE CAUSE AND THE CAUSER. 39

venient. An advantage to the moth they can
never be, except that, by assisting to perpetuate
the race of orchids, he is assisting to perpetuate
the supply of food for himself and future genera-
tions. But such a calculation as this implies
foresight, not race-experience ; and I doubt if
Bumble minor himself attributes foresight to the
moths of his acquaintance.

“Then as to the flower: it is not an agent at all.
Whether it lets down the foreign body on the in-
sect or not, depends upon whether the insect hits
it sufficiently or not. It has no choice in the
matter. But supposing it had, and could let the
foreign body down at will, what amount of race-
experience can teach it that it is for its advantage
to do so? To know this the flower also must be
gifted with foresight, and a race-experience besides
its own, for it must anticipate what the insect is
likely to do. And will even Bumble minor assert
this of any flower ?

“This is not all, however. There is one part
of the process which our friend the professor has
just communicated to me which introduces a quite