ineae among monocotyledons may be ranked with Amentiferae among
dicotyledons, as representing orders which have retrograded very far
from the entomophilous forms from which they were possibly and probably
descended" (p. 266).

"The genus Plantago, like _Thalictrum minus_, Poterium, and others, well
illustrate the change from an entomophilous to the anemophilous state.
_P. lanceolata_ has polymorphic flowers, and is visited by
pollen-seeking insects, so that it can be fertilised either by insects
or the wind. _P. media_ illustrates transitions in point of structure,
as the filaments are pink, the anthers motionless, and the pollen grains
aggregated, and it is regularly visited by _Bombus terrestris_. On the
other hand, the slender filaments, versatile anthers, powdery pollen,
and elongated protogynous style are features of other species indicating
anemophily; while the presence of a degraded corolla shows its ancestors
to have been entomophilous. _P. media_, therefore, illustrates, not a
primitive entomophilous condition, but a return to it; just as is the
case with _Sanguisorba officinalis_ and _Salix Caprea_; but these show
no capacity of restoring the corolla, the attractive features having to
be borne by the calyx, which is purplish in Sanguisorba, by the pink
filaments of Plantago, and by the yellow anthers in the Sallow willow"
(p. 271).

"The interpretation, then, I would offer of inconspicuousness and all
kinds of degradations is the exact opposite to that of conspicuousness
and great differentiations; namely, that species with minute flowers,
rarely or never visited by insects, and habitually self-fertilised, have
primarily arisen through the neglect of insects, and have in consequence
assumed their present floral structures" (p. 282).

In a letter just received from Mr. Henslow, he gives a few additional
illustrations of his views, of which the following are the most
important: "Passing to Incompletae, the orders known collectively as
'Cyclospermeae' are related to Caryophylleae; and to my mind are
degradations from it, of which Orache is anemophilous. Cupuliferae have
an inferior ovary and rudimentary calyx-limb on the top. These, as far
as I know, cannot be interpreted except as degradations. The whole of
Monocotyledons appear to me (from anatomical reasons especially) to be
degradations from Dicotyledons, and primarily through the agency of
growth in water. Many subsequently became terrestrial, but retaine