﻿Elementary 
  Species 
  in 
  Nature 
  35 
  

  

  some 
  simple 
  changes. 
  They 
  were 
  subordinated 
  

   to 
  the 
  parent-species. 
  In 
  other 
  cases 
  his 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  were 
  groups 
  of 
  lesser 
  forms 
  of 
  equal 
  value, 
  

   and 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  possible 
  to 
  discern 
  which 
  was 
  

   the 
  primary 
  and 
  which 
  were 
  the 
  derivatives. 
  

  

  These 
  two 
  methods 
  of 
  subdivision 
  seem 
  in 
  the 
  

   main, 
  and 
  notwithstanding 
  their 
  relatively 
  im- 
  

   perfect 
  application 
  in 
  many 
  single 
  examples, 
  to 
  

   correspond 
  with 
  two 
  really 
  distinct 
  cases. 
  The 
  

   derivative 
  varieties 
  are 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  

   parent-species 
  by 
  some 
  single, 
  but 
  striking 
  mark, 
  

   and 
  often 
  this 
  attribute 
  manifests 
  itself 
  as 
  the 
  

   loss 
  of 
  some 
  apparent 
  quality. 
  The 
  loss 
  of 
  

   spines 
  and 
  of 
  hairs 
  and 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  blue 
  and 
  red 
  

   flower-colors 
  are 
  the 
  most 
  notorious, 
  but 
  in 
  

   rarer 
  cases 
  many 
  single 
  peculiarities 
  may 
  dis- 
  

   appear, 
  thereby 
  constituting 
  a 
  variety. 
  This 
  

   relation 
  of 
  varieties 
  to 
  the 
  parent-species 
  is 
  

   gradually 
  increasing 
  in 
  importance 
  in 
  the 
  esti- 
  

   mation 
  of 
  botanists, 
  sharply 
  contrasting 
  with 
  

   those 
  cases, 
  in 
  which 
  such 
  dependency 
  is 
  not 
  to 
  

   be 
  met 
  with. 
  

  

  If 
  among 
  the 
  subdivisions 
  of 
  a 
  species, 
  no 
  

   single 
  one 
  can 
  be 
  pointed 
  out 
  as 
  playing 
  a 
  pri- 
  

   mary 
  part, 
  and 
  the 
  others 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  traced 
  

   back 
  to 
  it, 
  the 
  relation 
  between 
  these 
  lesser 
  

   units 
  is 
  of 
  course 
  of 
  another 
  character. 
  They 
  

   are 
  to 
  be 
  considered 
  of 
  equal 
  importance. 
  They 
  

   are 
  distinguished 
  from 
  each 
  other 
  by 
  more 
  than 
  

  

  