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  Mutations 
  

  

  I 
  once 
  had 
  a 
  lot 
  of 
  nearly 
  a 
  hundred 
  specimens 
  

   of 
  this 
  fine 
  variety, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  most 
  curious 
  

   and 
  beautiful 
  sight 
  to 
  observe 
  the 
  many 
  thou- 
  

   sands 
  of 
  nearly 
  regular 
  flowers 
  blooming 
  at 
  the 
  

   same 
  time. 
  Some 
  degree 
  of 
  variability 
  was 
  of 
  

   course 
  present, 
  even 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  measure. 
  The 
  

   number 
  of 
  the 
  spurs 
  varied 
  between 
  four 
  and 
  six, 
  

   transgressing 
  these 
  limits 
  in 
  some 
  instances, 
  but 
  

   never 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  to 
  produce 
  really 
  one-spurred 
  

   flowers. 
  Comparing 
  this 
  variety 
  with 
  the 
  ordi- 
  

   nary 
  type, 
  two 
  ways 
  of 
  passing 
  over 
  from 
  the 
  

   one 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  might 
  be 
  imagined. 
  One 
  would 
  

   entail 
  a 
  slow 
  increase 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  

   peloric 
  flowers 
  on 
  each 
  plant, 
  combined 
  with 
  a 
  

   decrease 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  normal 
  ones, 
  the 
  

   other 
  a 
  sudden 
  leap 
  from 
  one 
  extreme 
  to 
  the 
  

   other 
  without 
  any 
  intermediate 
  steps. 
  The 
  

   latter 
  might 
  easily 
  be 
  overlooked 
  in 
  field 
  obser- 
  

   vations 
  and 
  their 
  failure 
  may 
  not 
  have 
  the 
  value 
  

   of 
  direct 
  proof. 
  They 
  could 
  never 
  be 
  over- 
  

   looked, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  in 
  experimental 
  cul- 
  

   ture. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  peloric 
  toad-flax 
  is 
  that 
  

   of 
  Zioberg, 
  a 
  student 
  of 
  Linnaeus, 
  who 
  found 
  it 
  

   in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Upsala. 
  This 
  curious 
  

   discovery 
  was 
  described 
  by 
  Kudberg 
  in 
  his 
  dis- 
  

   sertation 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1744. 
  Soon 
  afterwards 
  

   other 
  localities 
  were 
  discovered 
  by 
  Link 
  near 
  

   Gottingen 
  in 
  Germany 
  about 
  1791 
  and 
  after- 
  

  

  