430 



Variations of Paris quadrifblia. 



eight stamens, and a four-celled pistil, crowned by four 

 stigmas. In this state, therefore, it offers a marked excep- 

 tion to the law which is so prevalent among monocotyledons, 

 " that the number 3, or a multiple of it, should prevail 

 in the developement of some part or other of their structure/* 

 The frequency, however, with which this plant deviates 

 from its more common condition, seems to indicate a great 

 degree of instability in the operation of whatever be the law 

 which regulates the developement of its subordinate parts; 

 which should make us cautious in pronouncing upon the 

 normal condition of its several foliaceous whorls. It seems 

 to me that some light may be thrown upon this question 

 by examining a great number of specimens from different 

 localities, and recording the limits within which the number 

 of parts in each organ is found to vary. With this view, 

 I have, for the last three or four years, noted the different 

 varieties gathered by myself and two friends, Messrs. Babing- 

 ton and Downes, in a habitat near Cambridge. The result 

 of our examinations, made upon 1500 specimens, I have 

 arranged in the following tables, upon which I shall offer a 

 iew remarks. 



