"
[61] _Westminster Review_, July, 1867.
[62] _Angraecum sesquipedale_, a Madagascar orchid, with a whip-like
nectary, 11 to 12 in. in length, which, according to Darwin
("Fertilisation of Orchids," 2nd Edit., p. 163), is adapted to the
visits of a moth with a proboscis of corresponding length. He points out
that there is no difficulty in believing in the existence of such a moth
as F. Mueller had described (_Nature_, 1873, p. 223), a Brazilian
sphinx-moth with a trunk 10 to 11 in. in length. Moreover, Forbes had
given evidence to show that such an insect does exist in Madagascar
(_Nature_, 1873, p. 121). The case of _Angraecum_ was put forward by the
Duke of Argyll as being necessarily due to the personal contrivance of
the Deity. Mr. Wallace shows (p. 476, _Quarterly Journal of Science_,
1867) that both proboscis and nectary might be increased in length by
means of Natural Selection. It may be added that Hermann Mueller has
shown good grounds for believing that mutual specialisation of this kind
is beneficial both to insect and to plant.
[63] "Variation of Animals and Plants," 1st Edit.
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