THE EVOLUTION OF LIVING BEINGS. 143 



gous, because we all know that it is exceedingly diffi- 

 cult to say, in a particular case, whether the place, occu- 

 pied by the corolla in the general groundplan, is the 

 rightfull place of the stamens, that of the calyx or e- 

 ven that between the outer whorl of stamens and the 

 calyx. 



In the first case, such a corolla would be the homo- 

 logon of the stamens, in the second that of the calyx, 

 and in the third place, it would have no homologon at 

 all, but be a new formation, an intercalation in the 

 general groundplan. 



The trouble in questions, like those of a general 

 groundplan, and of the character, the type, the essence 

 (wesentliche charactere) of a Linnean species, is that 

 we are unable to grasp all the characters of a group or 

 even of an individual, and so are led, unconsciously, 

 to consider the most conspicuous ones, as the essen- 

 tial ones. Gradually we find out, that among these 

 most conspicuous characters some are common to 

 more members of the group than others and as men are 

 great believers in the principle of majority (does not 

 a superior minister when he finds himself unable to 

 solve a difficult problem, appoint a commission of 

 M. P's, probably each less capable than himself, and 

 accept their majority-report as decisive?) we are led to 

 take these characters in the majority to be the best, to 

 be the most essential, to constitute in one word the 

 groundplan. It ought to be plain to us, that this is 

 nonsense, that we have thus succeeded in construc- 

 ting a common groundplan only, by divesting the 

 plans of the different individuals from all what made 



