﻿Unbalanced 
  Crosses 
  257 
  

  

  do 
  not 
  possess, 
  and 
  for 
  this 
  reason 
  afford 
  a 
  

   pure 
  instance 
  of 
  unbalanced 
  union, 
  though 
  dif- 
  

   fering 
  in 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  point. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  made 
  reciprocal 
  crosses, 
  taking 
  at 
  one 
  

   time 
  the 
  small-flowered 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  other 
  the 
  

   common 
  species 
  as 
  pistillate 
  parent. 
  These 
  

   crosses 
  do 
  not 
  lead 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  hybrid 
  as 
  is 
  

   ordinarily 
  observed 
  in 
  analogous 
  cases 
  ; 
  quite 
  on 
  

   the 
  contrary, 
  the 
  two 
  types 
  are 
  different 
  in 
  most 
  

   features, 
  both 
  resembling 
  the 
  pollen-parent 
  

   far 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  pistil-parent. 
  The 
  same 
  

   curious 
  result 
  was 
  reached 
  in 
  sundry 
  other 
  re- 
  

   ciprocal 
  crosses 
  between 
  species 
  of 
  this 
  genus. 
  

   But 
  I 
  will 
  limit 
  myself 
  here 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  

   hybrids. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1895 
  I 
  castrated 
  some 
  flow- 
  

   ers 
  of 
  0. 
  muricata, 
  and 
  pollinated 
  them 
  with 
  0. 
  

   biennis, 
  surrounding 
  the 
  flowers 
  with 
  paper 
  

   bags 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  exclude 
  the 
  visits 
  of 
  insects. 
  I 
  

   sowed 
  the 
  seeds 
  in 
  1896 
  and 
  the 
  hybrids 
  were 
  

   biennial 
  and 
  flowered 
  abundantly 
  the 
  next 
  year 
  

   and 
  were 
  artificially 
  fertilized 
  with 
  their 
  own 
  

   pollen, 
  but 
  gave 
  only 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  harvest. 
  

   Many 
  capsules 
  failed, 
  and 
  the 
  remaining 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  only 
  some 
  few 
  ripe 
  seeds. 
  

  

  From 
  these 
  I 
  had 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  year 
  the 
  

   second 
  hybrid 
  generation, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  way 
  

   I 
  cultivated 
  also 
  the 
  third 
  and 
  fourth. 
  These 
  

   were 
  as 
  imperfectly 
  fertile 
  as 
  the 
  first, 
  and 
  in 
  

  

  