﻿Poli/cephalic 
  Poppies 
  399 
  

  

  no 
  selection 
  is 
  adequate 
  to 
  produce 
  either 
  a 
  pure 
  

   strain 
  of 
  brightly 
  crowned 
  flower-heads 
  without 
  

   atavism, 
  or 
  to 
  conduce 
  to 
  an 
  absolute 
  and 
  per- 
  

   manent 
  loss 
  of 
  the 
  anomaly. 
  During 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  

   years 
  I 
  have 
  tested 
  my 
  plants 
  in 
  both 
  directions, 
  

   but 
  without 
  the 
  least 
  effect. 
  Limits 
  are 
  soon 
  

   reached 
  on 
  both 
  sides, 
  and 
  to 
  transgress 
  these 
  

   seems 
  quite 
  impossible. 
  

  

  Taking 
  these 
  limits 
  as 
  the 
  marks 
  of 
  the 
  

   variety, 
  and 
  considering 
  all 
  fluctuations 
  between 
  

   them 
  as 
  responses 
  to 
  external 
  influences 
  work- 
  

   ing 
  during 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  individual 
  or 
  govern- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  ripening 
  of 
  the 
  seeds, 
  we 
  get 
  a 
  clear 
  pic- 
  

   ture 
  of 
  a 
  permanent 
  ever-sporting 
  type. 
  The 
  

   limits 
  are 
  absolutely 
  permanent 
  during 
  the 
  

   whole 
  existence 
  of 
  this 
  already 
  old 
  variety. 
  

   They 
  never 
  change. 
  But 
  they 
  include 
  so 
  wide 
  a 
  

   range 
  of 
  variability 
  that 
  the 
  extremes 
  may 
  be 
  

   said 
  to 
  grade 
  into 
  one 
  another, 
  so 
  muck 
  the 
  more 
  

   so 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  extremes 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  considered 
  

   morphologically 
  as 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  the 
  variation, 
  

   while 
  the 
  other 
  extreme 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  distin- 
  

   guished 
  from 
  the 
  normal 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  species. 
  

  

  