﻿Retrograde 
  Varieties 
  129 
  

  

  Presently 
  we 
  shall 
  look 
  into 
  these 
  characters 
  

   more 
  in 
  detail 
  and 
  then 
  we 
  shall 
  find 
  that 
  they 
  

   are 
  not 
  so 
  simple 
  as 
  might 
  be 
  supposed 
  at 
  first 
  

   sight; 
  but 
  precisely 
  because 
  we 
  are 
  so 
  familiar 
  

   with 
  them, 
  we 
  readily 
  see 
  that 
  their 
  different 
  

   features 
  really 
  belong 
  to 
  a 
  single 
  character; 
  

   while 
  in 
  elementary 
  species 
  everything 
  is 
  so 
  

   new 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  for 
  us 
  to 
  discern 
  the 
  

   unities 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  attributes. 
  

  

  If 
  we 
  bear 
  in 
  mind 
  all 
  these 
  difficulties 
  we 
  

   cannot 
  wonder 
  at 
  the 
  confusion 
  on 
  this 
  ques- 
  

   tion 
  that 
  seems 
  to 
  prevail 
  everywhere. 
  Some 
  

   authors 
  following 
  Linnaeus 
  simply 
  call 
  all 
  the 
  

   subdivisions 
  of 
  species, 
  varieties; 
  others 
  fol- 
  

   low 
  Jordan 
  and 
  avoid 
  the 
  difficulty 
  by 
  desig- 
  

   nating 
  all 
  smaller 
  forms 
  directly 
  as 
  species. 
  

   The 
  ablest 
  systematists 
  prefer 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  

   ordinary 
  species 
  as 
  collective 
  groups, 
  calling 
  

   their 
  constituents 
  " 
  The 
  elements 
  of 
  the 
  spe- 
  

   cies," 
  as 
  was 
  done 
  by 
  A. 
  P. 
  De 
  Candolle, 
  Alph. 
  

   De 
  Candolle 
  and 
  Lindley. 
  

  

  By 
  this 
  method 
  they 
  clearly 
  point 
  out 
  the 
  dif- 
  

   ference 
  between 
  the 
  subdivisions 
  of 
  wild 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  as 
  they 
  ordinarily 
  occur, 
  and 
  the 
  varieties 
  

   in 
  our 
  gardens, 
  which 
  would 
  be 
  very 
  rare, 
  were 
  

   they 
  not 
  singled 
  out 
  and 
  preserved. 
  

  

  Our 
  familiarity 
  with 
  a 
  character 
  and 
  our 
  

   grounds 
  for 
  calling 
  it 
  an 
  old 
  acquaintance 
  may 
  

   result 
  from 
  two 
  causes, 
  which 
  in 
  judging 
  a 
  new 
  

  

  