﻿LECTURE 
  VII 
  

  

  FALSE 
  ATAVISM 
  OR 
  VICINISM 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century 
  Louis 
  

   de 
  Vilmorin 
  showed 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  possible 
  to 
  

   subject 
  plants 
  to 
  the 
  methods 
  of 
  ameliora- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  races 
  then 
  in 
  use 
  for 
  domestic 
  animals, 
  

   and 
  since 
  that 
  time 
  atavism 
  has 
  played 
  a 
  large 
  

   part 
  in 
  all 
  breeding-processes. 
  It 
  was 
  consid- 
  

   ered 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  greatest 
  enemy 
  of 
  the 
  breeder, 
  

   and 
  was 
  generally 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  a 
  definite 
  force, 
  

   working 
  against 
  and 
  protracting 
  the 
  endeav- 
  

   ors 
  of 
  the 
  horticulturist. 
  

  

  No 
  clear 
  conception 
  as 
  to 
  its 
  true 
  nature 
  had 
  

   been 
  formulated, 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  propriety 
  of 
  

   designating 
  the 
  observed 
  phenomena 
  by 
  the 
  

   term 
  atavism 
  seemed 
  doubtful. 
  Duchesne 
  

   used 
  this 
  word 
  some 
  decades 
  ago 
  to 
  designate 
  

   those 
  cases 
  in 
  which 
  species 
  or 
  varieties 
  revert 
  

   spontaneously, 
  or 
  from 
  unknown 
  internal 
  

   causes, 
  to 
  some 
  long-lost 
  characters 
  of 
  their 
  an- 
  

   cestors. 
  Duchesne 
  's 
  definition 
  was 
  evidently 
  a 
  

   sharp 
  and 
  useful 
  one, 
  since 
  it 
  developed 
  for 
  the 
  

   first 
  time 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  latent 
  or 
  dormant 
  qualities, 
  

  

  185 
  

  

  