398 MR. C. DARWIN ON THE ILXEGITIMATK OrFSPRING 



and must thus have been legitimately fertilized. It produced a 

 good many capsules, ten of which yielded an average of 36'1 seeds, 

 with a maximum of 47 and a minimum of 22 ; so that this plant 

 produced 39 per cent, of the full number of seeds. During 1864 

 it was surrounded by legitimate and illegitimate plants of the 

 other two forms ; and nine capsules (one poor one being rejected) 

 yielded an average of 41*9 seeds, with a maximum of 56, and a 

 minimum of 28 ; so that, under these favourable circumstances, 

 this plant, the most fertile of the first lot, did not yield, when legiti- 

 mately fertilized, quite 45 per cent, of the full complement of seeds. 



In the second lot of plants in the present class, descended from 

 the long-styled form fertilized by its own pollen, and almost cer- 

 tainly from the longer stamens, the plants, as already stated, were 

 not nearly so dwarfed or so sterile as in the first lot. All pro- 

 duced plenty of capsules. I counted the number of seeds in only 

 three plants, viz. Nos, VIII., IX., & X. 



Exp. YIII. This plant was allowed to be freely fertilized in 

 1864 by legitimate and illegitimate plants of the other two forms, 

 and yielded from ten capsules an average of 41*1 seeds, with a 

 maximum of 73 and a minimum of 11. Hence this plant pro- 

 duced only 44 per cent, of the full complement of seeds. 



Exp. IX. This long-styled plant was allowed in 1865 to be 

 freely fertilized by illegitimate plants of the other two forms, 

 most of which were moderately fertile. Fifteen capsules yielded 

 an average of 57*1 seeds, with a maximum of 86 and a minimum of 

 23. Hence the plant yielded 61 per cent, of the full complement 

 of seeds. 



Exp. X. This long-styled plant was freely fertilized at the 

 same time and in the same manner as the last. Ten capsules 

 yielded an average of 44*2 seeds, with a maximum of 69 and a 

 minimum of 25 ; hence this plant yielded 47 per cent, of the full 

 complement of seeds. 



The nineteen long-styled plants of the third lot, of the same 

 parentage as the last lot, were treated differently ; for they 

 flowered during 1867 by themselves, so that they must have been 

 illegitimately fertilized by each other. It has already been stated 

 that a legitimate long-styled plant, growing by itself and visited 

 by insects, yielded an average of 21-5 seeds per capsule, with a 

 maximum of 35 ; but, to judge fairly of its fertility, this plant, as 

 well as others, ought to have been observed during successive 

 seasons. AVe may infer from analogy that, if several legitimate 

 long-styled plants were to fertilize each other, the average number 



