﻿512 
  Mutations 
  

  

  ure. 
  Hence 
  the 
  double 
  flowers 
  seem 
  to 
  afford 
  

   a 
  very 
  good 
  example 
  for 
  this 
  discussion. 
  

  

  It 
  can 
  be 
  decided 
  by 
  two 
  facts. 
  First 
  by 
  a 
  

   consideration 
  of 
  the 
  oldest 
  double 
  varieties, 
  and 
  

   secondly 
  by 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  youngest. 
  Are 
  the 
  

   older 
  ones 
  now 
  in 
  a 
  better 
  condition 
  than 
  at 
  the 
  

   outset? 
  Have 
  they 
  really 
  been 
  gradually 
  im- 
  

   proved 
  during 
  the 
  centuries 
  of 
  their 
  existence? 
  

   Obviously 
  this 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  answered 
  by 
  a 
  com- 
  

   parison 
  of 
  the 
  figures 
  given 
  by 
  older 
  writers, 
  

   with 
  the 
  varieties 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  now 
  in 
  culture. 
  

   Hunting's 
  drawings 
  and 
  descriptions 
  are 
  now 
  

   nearly 
  two 
  centuries 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  old, 
  but 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  

   find 
  any 
  real 
  difference 
  between 
  his 
  double 
  va- 
  

   rieties 
  and 
  their 
  present 
  representatives. 
  So 
  

   it 
  is 
  in 
  other 
  cases 
  in 
  which 
  improvements 
  by 
  

   crossing 
  or 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  new 
  forms 
  does 
  

   not 
  vitiate 
  the 
  evidence. 
  Double 
  varieties, 
  as 
  

   a 
  rule, 
  are 
  exactly 
  the 
  same 
  now, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  

   at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  their 
  first 
  introduction. 
  

  

  If 
  this 
  were 
  otherwise 
  one 
  would 
  expect 
  that 
  

   young 
  double 
  varieties 
  should 
  in 
  the 
  main 
  dis- 
  

   play 
  only 
  slight 
  grades 
  of 
  the 
  anomaly, 
  and 
  

   that 
  they 
  would 
  require 
  centuries 
  to 
  reach 
  their 
  

   full 
  development. 
  Nothing 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  is 
  on 
  

   record. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary 
  the 
  newest 
  double 
  

   sorts 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  not 
  only 
  equal 
  to 
  their 
  prede- 
  

   cessors, 
  but 
  to 
  excel 
  them. 
  As 
  a 
  rule 
  such 
  claims 
  

   may 
  be 
  exaggerated, 
  but 
  not 
  to 
  any 
  great 
  extent. 
  

  

  