370 os THE variegation or PLANTS. 



often tempted to adulterate his gambcer with this article, 

 which mixes intimately, but may be detected by solution in 

 water. 



XII. 



On the Variegation of Plants. In a Letter to Richard 

 Anthony Salisbury, Esq. F. R.S. and L.S. by Thomas 

 Andrew Knight, Esq. F. R.S. and L.S,* 



My dear Sir, 



Variegated 1 HOUGH variegated plants have long occupied the caro 



p yy 1 ?*?*" ana * attention of the gardener, it does not appear, that the 



naturalists. peculiarities which distinguish them have much attracted the 



attention of the naturalist; and lam not acquainted with 



any experiments, which have been made either to discover 



the cause of variegation, or the effects produced by it. I 



am therefore induced to trouble you with an account of a 



few experiments, .that I have made on one species of vari- 



1 egated plant, from which I obtained an unexpected and 



somewhat interesting result. 



The va Ugatcd There is a land of variegated vine, well known to gar- 



Tifle - Jcticrs, (the Aleppo), which affords variegated leaves and 



fruit; and as the grape, though small, possesses a very 



high flavour, and much richness, I wished to obtain some 



offspring cither from its seeds or farina, with the hope of 



piocuring berries of larger size, and at the same time of 



I m taming whether its variegation would be transferred to 



tie offspring. 



Other* imr>reg- "With this object in view I extracted the immature stamina 



rated with its Q ^ the blossoms of the white chasselas, and white frontig- 

 farina became * 7 . . ° 



TAriegatcd. nacvmeif: and at the proper subsequent period I intro- 

 duced the farina of the Aleppo vine: from this experiment 

 1 obtained, in the succeeding spring, many seedling plants. 

 These plants, which were raised in a hot-bed, presented no 

 singularity of character on their first appearance ; but early 

 in the succeeding summer I had the pleasure to observe 



* Trims, of the Linnean Soc. vol. IX, p. 26*8. 



purpl« 



