﻿492 
  Mutations 
  

  

  of 
  a 
  later 
  period. 
  A 
  long 
  list 
  could 
  easily 
  be 
  

   made, 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  history 
  of 
  

   horticulture 
  double 
  varieties 
  have 
  arisen 
  

   from 
  time 
  to 
  time. 
  As 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  judge, 
  

   such 
  appearances 
  have 
  been 
  isolated 
  and 
  sud- 
  

   den. 
  Sometimes 
  they 
  sprang 
  into 
  existence 
  in 
  

   the 
  full 
  display 
  of 
  their 
  beauty, 
  but 
  most 
  com- 
  

   monly 
  they 
  showed 
  themselves 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time, 
  

   exhibiting 
  only 
  spare 
  supernumerary 
  petals. 
  

   Whenever 
  such 
  sports 
  were 
  worked 
  up, 
  a 
  few 
  

   years 
  sufficed 
  to 
  reach 
  the 
  entire 
  development 
  

   of 
  the 
  new 
  varietal 
  attribute. 
  

  

  From 
  this 
  superficial 
  survey 
  of 
  historical 
  

   facts, 
  the 
  inference 
  is 
  forced 
  upon 
  us 
  that 
  the 
  

   chance 
  of 
  producing 
  a 
  new 
  double 
  variety 
  is 
  

   good 
  enough 
  to 
  justify 
  the 
  attempt. 
  It 
  has 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  succeeded 
  for 
  practical 
  purposes, 
  why 
  

   should 
  it 
  not 
  succeed 
  as 
  well 
  for 
  purely 
  scien- 
  

   tific 
  investigation? 
  At 
  all 
  events 
  the 
  type 
  rec- 
  

   ommends 
  itself 
  to 
  the 
  student 
  of 
  nature, 
  both 
  

   on 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  frequency, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  apparent 
  

   insignificance 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  step, 
  combined 
  with 
  

   the 
  possibility 
  of 
  rapidly 
  working 
  up 
  from 
  this 
  

   small 
  beginning 
  of 
  one 
  superfluous 
  petal 
  to- 
  

   wards 
  the 
  highest 
  degree 
  of 
  duplication. 
  

  

  Compared 
  with 
  the 
  tedious 
  experimental 
  pro- 
  

   duction 
  of 
  the 
  peloric 
  toad-flax, 
  the 
  attempt 
  to 
  

   produce 
  a 
  double 
  flower 
  has 
  a 
  distinct 
  attrac- 
  

   tion. 
  The 
  peloric 
  toad-flax 
  is 
  nothing 
  new 
  ; 
  the 
  

  

  