﻿False 
  Atavism 
  201 
  

  

  in 
  this 
  case 
  being 
  only 
  40 
  meters. 
  Of 
  two 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  seeds 
  one 
  became 
  a 
  blue 
  atavist, 
  or 
  rather 
  

   vicinist, 
  while 
  all 
  others 
  remained 
  true 
  to 
  the 
  

   white 
  type. 
  The 
  same 
  was 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  

   white 
  creeping 
  thyme, 
  or 
  Thymus 
  Serpyllum 
  

   album, 
  and 
  the 
  white 
  self-heal, 
  Brunella 
  vul- 
  

   garis 
  alba, 
  gave 
  even 
  so 
  much 
  as 
  28$ 
  seed- 
  

   lings 
  with 
  purple 
  corollas 
  out 
  of 
  some 
  400 
  

   specimens, 
  after 
  being 
  cultivated 
  in 
  close 
  prox- 
  

   imity 
  to 
  its 
  parent-species. 
  I 
  have 
  tried 
  many 
  

   other 
  species, 
  but 
  always 
  with 
  the 
  same 
  result. 
  

   Such 
  atavists 
  only 
  arise 
  by 
  cultivation 
  in 
  the 
  

   proximity 
  of 
  allied 
  varieties, 
  never 
  in 
  isolation. 
  

   They 
  are 
  not 
  real 
  atavists, 
  but 
  only 
  vicinists. 
  

  

  In 
  order 
  to 
  show 
  this 
  yet 
  more 
  clearly, 
  I 
  

   made 
  another 
  experiment 
  with 
  the 
  white 
  self- 
  

   heal. 
  I 
  had 
  a 
  lot 
  of 
  the 
  pinnate-leaved 
  variety 
  

   with 
  purple 
  flowers 
  and 
  somewhat 
  stouter 
  

   stems, 
  and 
  cultivated 
  single 
  plants 
  of 
  the 
  white- 
  

   flowering 
  sort 
  at 
  distances 
  that 
  varied 
  from 
  

   2-16 
  meters. 
  The 
  seeds 
  of 
  each 
  plant 
  were 
  

   collected 
  and 
  sown 
  separately, 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  

   nearest 
  gave 
  up 
  to 
  5 
  or 
  6 
  hybrids 
  from 
  the 
  seeds 
  

   of 
  one 
  parent, 
  while 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  farthest 
  gave 
  

   only 
  one 
  purple-flowered 
  plant 
  for 
  each 
  parent. 
  

   Evidently 
  the 
  chance 
  of 
  the 
  pollen 
  being 
  carried 
  

   by 
  bees 
  is 
  much 
  greater 
  on 
  short 
  than 
  on 
  longer 
  

   distances. 
  

  

  True 
  hybrids 
  between 
  species 
  may 
  arise 
  in 
  

  

  