﻿Latent 
  Characters 
  231 
  

  

  their 
  types, 
  never 
  producing 
  true 
  florets. 
  No 
  

   mark 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  difference 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  

   between 
  them. 
  But 
  last 
  summer 
  (1903) 
  both 
  

   reverted 
  to 
  their 
  prototypes, 
  bearing 
  rela- 
  

   tively 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  ordinary 
  double 
  flower- 
  

   heads 
  among 
  the 
  great 
  mass 
  of 
  green 
  stalks. 
  

   Some 
  intermediate 
  forms 
  also 
  occurred 
  consist- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  green-scaled 
  stalks 
  ending 
  in 
  small 
  heads 
  

   with 
  colored 
  florets. 
  

  

  Thus 
  far 
  we 
  have 
  an 
  ordinary 
  case 
  of 
  rever- 
  

   sion. 
  But 
  the 
  important 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  phenome- 
  

   non 
  was, 
  that 
  each 
  plant 
  exactly 
  ' 
  ' 
  recollected 
  ' 
  

   from 
  which 
  parent 
  it 
  had 
  sprung. 
  All 
  of 
  those 
  

   in 
  my 
  garden 
  reverted 
  to 
  the 
  carmine 
  florets 
  

   with 
  white 
  tips, 
  and 
  all 
  of 
  those 
  in 
  the 
  nursery 
  

   to 
  the 
  pale 
  orange 
  color 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  character- 
  

   istics 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Surprise 
  " 
  variety. 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  absolutely 
  evident, 
  that 
  no 
  simple 
  

   loss 
  can 
  account 
  for 
  this 
  difference. 
  Something 
  

   of 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  parent-varieties 
  must 
  

   have 
  remained 
  in 
  the 
  plant. 
  And 
  whatever 
  

   conception 
  we 
  may 
  formulate 
  of 
  these 
  vestigial 
  

   characters 
  it 
  is 
  clear 
  that 
  the 
  simplest 
  and 
  most 
  

   obvious 
  idea 
  is 
  their 
  preservation 
  in 
  a 
  dormant 
  

   or 
  latent 
  state. 
  Assuming 
  that 
  the 
  distinguish- 
  

   ing 
  marks 
  have 
  only 
  become 
  inactive 
  by 
  vires- 
  

   cence, 
  it 
  is 
  manifest 
  that 
  on 
  returning 
  each 
  will 
  

   show 
  its 
  own 
  peculiarities, 
  as 
  recorded 
  above. 
  

  

  Our 
  second 
  point 
  was 
  the 
  incomplete 
  loss 
  of 
  

  

  