﻿738 
  Fluctuations 
  

  

  another. 
  Furthermore, 
  whenever 
  an 
  empirical 
  

   curve 
  agrees 
  in 
  this 
  manner 
  with 
  the 
  theoretical 
  

   one, 
  the 
  fluctuation 
  complies 
  with 
  Quetelet's 
  law, 
  

   and 
  may 
  be 
  ascribed 
  to 
  quite 
  ordinary 
  and 
  uni- 
  

   versal 
  causes. 
  But 
  if 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  diverge 
  from 
  

   this 
  line, 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  this 
  divergence 
  should 
  be 
  

   inquired 
  into. 
  

  

  Such 
  abnormal 
  curves 
  occur 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  

   time, 
  but 
  are 
  rare. 
  Unsymmetrical 
  instances 
  

   have 
  already 
  been 
  alluded 
  to, 
  and 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  

   quite 
  frequent. 
  Another 
  deviation 
  from 
  the 
  

   rule 
  is 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  summit. 
  

   This 
  case 
  falls 
  under 
  two 
  headings. 
  If 
  the 
  ray- 
  

   florets 
  of 
  a 
  composite 
  are 
  counted, 
  and 
  the 
  fig- 
  

   ures 
  brought 
  into 
  a 
  curve, 
  a 
  prominent 
  summit 
  

   usually 
  corresponds 
  to 
  the 
  average. 
  But 
  next 
  

   to 
  this, 
  and 
  on 
  both 
  sides, 
  smaller 
  summits 
  are 
  

   to 
  be 
  seen. 
  On 
  a 
  close 
  inspection 
  these 
  summits 
  

   are 
  observed 
  to 
  fall 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  ordinates, 
  on 
  

   which, 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  allied 
  species, 
  the 
  main 
  

   apex 
  lies. 
  The 
  specific 
  character 
  of 
  one 
  form 
  

   is 
  thus 
  repeated 
  as 
  a 
  secondary 
  character 
  on 
  an 
  

   allied 
  species. 
  Ludwig 
  discovered 
  that 
  these 
  

   secondary 
  summits 
  comply 
  with 
  the 
  rule 
  discov- 
  

   ered 
  by 
  Braun 
  and 
  Schimper, 
  stating 
  the 
  rela- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  subsequent 
  figures 
  of 
  the 
  series. 
  

   This 
  series 
  gives 
  the 
  terms 
  of 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   position 
  of 
  leaves 
  in 
  general, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  

   bracts 
  and 
  flowers 
  on 
  the 
  composite 
  flower- 
  

  

  