It is, indeed, true that asymmetrically marked animals are very rarely seen in the wild state, while they are the rule rather than the exception among domesticated species. But this appears to be due, not to the necessity of recognition markings in nature, but to the fact that those animals that display a tendency to massed pigment perish in the struggle for existence, since this massing of pigment appears to be correlated with weakness of constitution. In other words, this massing of pigment is an unfavourable variation, which under natural conditions dooms its possessor. In the easier circumstances of domestication, animals which are irregularly pigmented are able to survive, so that, among them, the almost universal tendency to the massing of pigment can be followed without let or hindrance. It is unnecessary to say more upon this subject. The few facts we have set forth suffice to destroy this particular excrescence on the Darwinian theory. The Colouring of Flowers and Fruits Extremely interesting though the subject be, we are unable to consider at length the generally accepted theory that the colour markings and perfumes of wild flowers are the result of the unconscious selection exercised by insects. While not denying that many flowers profit by their colouring, that these colours may sometimes serve to attract the insects, by means of which cross-fertilisation is effected, we are not prepared to go to the length of admitting that all the colours, etc., displayed by flowers and floral structures are due to the unconscious selection exercised by insects. It is one thing to admit that the colour of its flowers is of direct utility to a plant; it is quite another to assert that the colour in question owes its origin and development to natural selection. Our attitude towards the generally accepted explanation of the colours of flowers is similar to that which we adopt towards the theory of protective mimicry among animals. In certain cases we are prepared to admit that the mimicking organism derives benefit from the likeness; but this, we assert, is no proof that natural selection has originated the likeness. Cross- versus Self-fertilisation The theory that flowers have developed their colours in order to attract insects to them, and thus secure cross-fertilisation, is based on the assumption that cross-fertilisation is advantageous to plants. It is questionable whether this assumption is justified. True it is that numbers of experiments have been performed, which show that, in many cases, flowers which are artificially self-fertilised yield comparatively few seeds. But experiments of this kind do not prove very much.