CHAPTER II

HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES AMONGST BEINGS INFERIOR TO MAN 17

The organised world before the appearance of man on the earth—Absence of a law of universal progress—Fertilisation of vanilla—The part played by insects in the fertilisation of orchids—Mechanism by which insects carry the pollen of orchids—Habits of fossorial wasps—Harmonies in nature—Useless organs—Rudiments of the pollinia of orchids—Disharmonies in nature—Unadapted insects—Aberration of instincts—Perversion of sexual instinct—Attraction of insects by light—Luminous insects—Law of natural selection—Happiness and unhappiness in the organised world