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MORPHOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES IN THE TOMATO. 18] 
Observations on some Morphological Abnormalities in 
the Tomato. 
By 8. M. Wettwoop. 
[Read 26th October, 1897.] - 
Amone the various vital phenomena to be observed in plants 
-under cultivation, deviations from the normal progression of 
development are perhaps the most striking. When a wild plant 
is introduced into the garden, the first effects of the improvement 
of its circumstances are shown in a greater luxuriance of foliage, 
and generally in an increase in the size and beauty of the flower. 
After the plant has apparently reached its maximum in a normal 
direction, continued culture, especially when accompanied by an 
increase in the amenities of environment, leads to developments 
of an abnormal nature. The most familiar example of these 
abnormalities is seen in the doubling of flowers, where not only 
are the essential organs of the flower metamorphosed into petals, 
but the transformation is generally accompanied by an indefinite 
multiplication of the floral whorls. In the case of plants of 
tropical or sub-tropical origin cultivated under glass, additional 
factors, such as differences of climate and food supply, artificial 
selection, and special cultural treatment with a view to a particular 
result, produce conditions which are highly favourable to deviation. 
The cultivator, by prescribing the environment, wields an immense 
power, and the character and constitution of the plant, within 
certain limits, is at his mercy to make or mar. Generally he 
seeks to gain the maximum of flowers or fruit with a minimum of 
vegetative growth, but very often a high cultivation produces 
modifications other and less desirable than those aimed at. In 
some cases it is the object of cultivation to encourage deviation. 
For example,—in the metamorphosed and abortive inflorescence 
