﻿False 
  Atavism 
  209 
  

  

  The 
  hybrid 
  offspring 
  will 
  therefore, 
  in 
  the 
  

   main, 
  have 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  and 
  be 
  

   indistinguishable 
  from 
  it, 
  or 
  show 
  only 
  such 
  

   differences 
  as 
  escape 
  ordinary 
  observation. 
  

   When 
  occurring 
  in 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  the 
  variety 
  

   they 
  betray 
  themselves 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  dif- 
  

   ferential 
  characters 
  are 
  displayed. 
  Between 
  

   the 
  thousands 
  of 
  flowering 
  plants 
  of 
  a 
  white 
  

   variety 
  the 
  hybrids 
  will 
  instantly 
  catch 
  the 
  eye 
  

   by 
  their 
  red 
  or 
  blue 
  corollas. 
  Quite 
  the 
  con- 
  

   trary 
  effect 
  results 
  from 
  the 
  admixture 
  of 
  hy- 
  

   brids 
  with 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  itself. 
  Here 
  

   no 
  difference 
  will 
  show 
  itself, 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  full- 
  

   est 
  bloom. 
  The 
  effect 
  of 
  the 
  spontaneous 
  

   crosses 
  will 
  pass 
  unobserved. 
  The 
  strain, 
  if 
  

   pure 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  year, 
  will 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  still 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  condition. 
  Or 
  in 
  other 
  terms, 
  the 
  una- 
  

   voidable 
  spontaneous 
  crosses 
  will 
  disturb 
  the 
  

   purity 
  of 
  the 
  variety 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  year, 
  while 
  

   they 
  do 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  interfere 
  at 
  all 
  with 
  the 
  uni- 
  

   formity 
  of 
  the 
  species. 
  The 
  direct 
  effect 
  of 
  the 
  

   visits 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  is 
  evident 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  case, 
  

   but 
  passes 
  unobserved 
  in 
  the 
  latter. 
  

  

  From 
  this 
  it 
  would 
  seem, 
  that 
  spontaneous 
  

   crosses 
  are 
  hurtful 
  to 
  varieties, 
  but 
  are 
  in- 
  

   nocuous 
  to 
  true 
  species. 
  Certainly 
  this 
  would 
  

   be 
  so, 
  were 
  there 
  no 
  selection. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  easily 
  

   seen, 
  that 
  through 
  this 
  operation 
  the 
  effect 
  be- 
  

   comes 
  quite 
  the 
  opposite. 
  For 
  when 
  the 
  fields 
  

  

  