q6 



in very marked ways. It may be a solitary specimen, and 

 is so, as a rule, but cases are recorded in which several have 

 appeared, and all identical ; or more than one new type 

 may present itself, each being distinct of its kind, and by 

 no means gradations leading up to the more marked. This 

 absence of gradational forms is, indeed, one of the most 

 striking features of "sports"; they form, really, cases of 

 sudden, or jump, variations, which until quite recently 

 were merely regarded as monstrosities incapable of playing 

 any role, in the origination of species proper. Investigation, 

 however, has shown that, to all intents and purposes, each 

 such "sport" is an initial species in itself. It possesses 

 all the faculties of a true species, viz. adherence to type, 

 distinctness of character, and permanent constancy of re- 

 production. All that it needs to become an established 

 species is the capacity of holding its own in the struggle 

 with its congeners and other environmental factors ; and 

 considering the great number of such "sports" which are 

 known to occur under wild conditions, and the fact that 

 they vary in all directions, it would be a very strange thing 

 indeed if, in the course of evolutional aeons, some of these 

 had not possessed the capacity indicated, and thus con- 

 tributed to the number of distinct species extant. 



The old proverb, " Natura non fecit per saltum " is thus 

 seen, like most rules, to have its exceptions, at any rate 

 optically, though we are so absolutely ignorant of the 

 origin of these sports, since they are only recognisable 

 when it is too late to investigate such origin, that it would 

 be unwise to assert that no gradational influence in the 

 mother plant has led up to their birth. Of this, however, 

 there is absolutely no evidence, and our own opinion is 

 that none will be found. 



Taking a fern sport as an example, we find, amid a mass 

 of normal ones, a single individual of very different 

 structure. We separate it from the mass, and find it to be 



