176 NATURAL SCIENCE. ^,^,, 



the cause of the fleshiness, is beheved, from a large number of coin- 

 cidences, coupled with the fact that the same plants are not always 

 fleshy when growing inland. M. Lesage examined the tissues of a 

 large number of plants growing both near and away from the sea ; 

 and he came to the following conclusion: — " II resulte clairement du 

 rapprochement de ces faits que le voisinage du bord de la mer en 

 meme temps qu'il determine I'epaississement de la feuille, y provoque 

 le developpement exagere du tissu palissadique."^ 



Then, following up the investigation experimentally, he suc- 

 ceeded in producing an identically similar fleshiness by watering 

 with salt water, thereby verifying the deduction that it was due to 

 the presence of salt from the sea. He adds : — " J'ai reussi sourtout 

 pour le Lepidium sativum cultive en 1888. J'ai obtenu pour le meme 

 plante, des resultats plus nets encore dans la culture de i88g, entre- 

 prise en semant les graines recoltees avec soin dans les pots de 

 I'annee precedente et traitees exactement de le meme fa9on."9 



This experiment, like Professor Buckman's, shows that the 

 alteration of the tissues was carried on in the second generation 

 from the point gained in the first. In both cases no germ-plasm (in 

 the germ-cells) existed at the time during which the alterations arose, 

 as they were confined to the vegetative system ; and in the case of 

 the parsnips and carrots, being biennials, no germ-cells are produced 

 till the second year has arrived. 



As a third example. Professor Bailey observes: — "Squashes 

 often show remarkable differences when grown upon different soils, 

 and these diffierences can sometimes be perpetuated for a time by 

 seeds. The writer has produced from the same parent squashes so 

 dissimilar, through the simple agency of a change of soil, in one 

 season, that they might readily be taken for distinct varieties. Peas 

 are known to vary in the same manner. The ends of a row of peas 

 sown of the same kind, last year gave the writer marked variations, 

 due to differences in soil. . . . Pea-growers characterise soils 

 as ' good ' and ' viney.' Upon the latter sort the plants run to 

 vine at the expense of the fruit, and their offspring for two or three 

 generations have the same tendency. "^° 



Once more. It has often been observed that spinescent features 

 are characteristic of arid regions. M. Lothelier" found that the 

 Barberry produced only spinescent leaves in a dry air, and none at 

 all in a moist one. I find by experiment that Ononis arvensis loses 

 its spines in a rich, moist soil, whether grown from cuttings or raised 

 from seed. 



As a further illustration in which climatic influences appear to 



** Rev. Gen. Bot., vol. ii., p. 64. '■> Loc. cit., p. 114. 



1" Extracts from an article in the " American Garden," by Professor Bailey ; 

 quoted in the Gardeners' Chronicle, May 31, 1890, p. 677. 

 " Rev. Gen. Bot., 1890, p. 276. 



