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  Ever-sporting 
  Varieties 
  

  

  a 
  number 
  of 
  questions 
  about 
  heredity, 
  period- 
  

   icity, 
  dependency 
  on 
  nourishment 
  and 
  other 
  life- 
  

   conditions, 
  and 
  even 
  about 
  hybridizing, 
  which 
  

   may 
  be 
  answered 
  by 
  this 
  new 
  method. 
  

  

  Seed-leaves 
  show 
  many 
  deviations 
  from 
  the 
  

   ordinary 
  shape, 
  especially 
  in 
  dicotyledonous 
  

   plants. 
  A 
  very 
  common 
  aberration 
  is 
  the 
  multi- 
  

   plication 
  of 
  their 
  number, 
  and 
  three 
  seed-leaves 
  

   in 
  a 
  whorl 
  are 
  not 
  rarely 
  met 
  with. 
  The 
  whorl 
  

   may 
  even 
  consist 
  of 
  four, 
  and 
  in 
  rare 
  cases 
  of 
  

   five 
  or 
  more 
  cotyledons. 
  Cleft 
  cotyledons 
  are 
  

   also 
  to 
  be 
  met 
  with, 
  and 
  the 
  fissure 
  may 
  extend 
  

   varying 
  distances 
  from 
  the 
  tips. 
  Often 
  all 
  these 
  

   deviations 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  among 
  the 
  seedlings 
  

   of 
  one 
  lot, 
  and 
  then 
  it 
  is 
  obvious 
  that 
  together 
  

   they 
  constitute 
  a 
  scale 
  of 
  cleavages, 
  the 
  ternate 
  

   and 
  quaternate 
  whorls 
  being 
  only 
  cases 
  where 
  

   the 
  cleaving 
  has 
  reached 
  its 
  greatest 
  develop- 
  

   ment. 
  All 
  in 
  all 
  it 
  is 
  manifest 
  that 
  here 
  we 
  are 
  

   met 
  by 
  one 
  type 
  of 
  monstrosity, 
  but 
  that 
  this 
  

   type 
  allows 
  of 
  a 
  wide 
  range 
  of 
  fluctuating 
  varia- 
  

   bility. 
  For 
  brevity's 
  sake 
  all 
  these 
  cleft 
  and 
  

   ternate, 
  double 
  cleft 
  and 
  quaternate 
  cotyledons 
  

   and 
  even 
  the 
  higher 
  grades 
  are 
  combined 
  under 
  

   one 
  common 
  name 
  and 
  indicated 
  as 
  tricotyls. 
  

  

  A 
  second 
  aberration 
  of 
  young 
  seed-plants 
  is 
  

   exactly 
  opposite 
  to 
  this. 
  It 
  consists 
  of 
  the 
  

   union 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  seed-leaves 
  into 
  a 
  single 
  

   organ. 
  This 
  ordinarily 
  betrays 
  its 
  origin 
  by 
  

  

  