PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 65 



somewhat analogous to that of animals. The light which I received from 

 this gentleman was afterward further explained by another learned 

 gentleman of that Society, Mr. Samuel Moreland, who in 'Philos, Trans.,' 

 Number 287, Anno 1703, has given us to understand how the dust of 

 the Apices in flowers [i.e., the male sperm] is conveyed into the uterus 

 or vasculum seminalis of a plant, by which means the seeds therein 

 contained are impregnated. I then made it my business to search after 

 this truth, and have had good fortune enough to bring it to demonstra- 

 tion by several experiments; since which, a gentleman of Paris had 

 printed something of the same nature, in the 'Hist, de I'Acad. des 

 Sciences,' for the year 1711 and 1712, which were published about two 

 years ago." 



Bradley's account of the Fairchild crossing experiment is as 

 follows : 



"Moreover, a Curious Person may, by this knowledge, produce such 

 rare Kinds of Plants as have not yet been heard of, by making choice 

 of two plants for his Purpose as are near alike in their parts, but 

 chiefly in their Flowers or Seed Vessels; for example the Carnation and 

 Sweet-william are in some respects alike, the Farina of the one will 

 impregnate the other, and the Seed so enliven'd will produce a Plant 

 differing from either, as may now be seen in the Garden of Mr. 

 Thomas Fairchild of Hoxton, a plant neither Szveet-William nor Carna- 

 tion, but resembling both equally, which was raised from the Seed of 

 a Carnation that had been impregnated by the Farina of the Sweet- 

 William." (pp. 20-3.) 



Two years earlier, Bradley himself (1. pp. 20-5'), had removed 

 the anthers from the flowers of twelve tulips which he had planted 

 in a remote place in his garden, and had discovered that they pro- 

 duced no seeds, while some four hundred tulips, planted elsewhere 

 in the garden and left intact, produced seeds freely. 



The account of the experiment is given as follows : 



"l shall now proceed to what I call the Demonstrative Part of this 

 System. I made my first Experiment upon the Tulip, which I chose 

 rather than any other Plant because it seldom misses to produce Seed. 

 Several years ago I had the Conveniency of a large Garden, wherein 

 there was a considerable Bed of Tulips in one Part, containing about 

 400 Roots ; in another Part of it very remote from the former, were 

 Twelve Tulips in perfect Health. At the first opening of the twelve, 

 which I was very careful to observe, I cautiously took out of them 

 all their Apices, before the Farijia Fecundans was ripe or any ways 

 appear'd. These Tulips, being thus castrated, bare no Seed that Sum- 

 mer, while on the other hand every one of the 400 Plants which I had 

 let alone produced seed. . . . 



" 'Tis from this accidental Coupling that proceeds the Numberless 

 Varieties of Fruits and Flowers which are raised every Day from Seed. 

 The yellow and black Auricula's which were the first we had in Eng- 

 land, coupling with on^ another, produced Seed which gave us other 

 varieties, which again mixing their qualities, in like manner, has af- 

 forded us by little and little the numberless Variations which we see 



