i86 



The Journal of Heredity 



In making their experiments Blakeslee 

 and Avery encountered numerous muta- 

 tions, chiefly in the relative lengtli of 

 the notes of the stem, and in the form 

 of the leaAes and capsules. Among the 

 results of their observations was the 

 discovery that the mutations were 

 sudden, though of rare occurrence, and 

 that they transmitted their characters 

 — chiefly through the female sex — 

 to only a part of their offspring. 



That the purple and white-flowered 

 forms of Datura stramonium used in 

 these experiments are specifically iden- 

 tical is certain. The statement has 

 been repeatedly made that there is a 

 difi^erence in the relative length of the 

 prickles arming the capsules of the two 

 color forms, but in specimens collected 

 by the writer no such difference could 

 be detected. De Candolle in discussing 

 the possibility of the separate origin of 

 the two color-forms makes the follow- 

 ing remarkable suggestion : "Si ces deux 

 formes sont deux especes, il est tres pos- 

 sible que I'une fut de I'ancien et I'autre 

 du nouveau monde, et alors je croirais 

 le 7a/«/a americain plutot que I'autre." 

 (If these two forms are two species, it 

 is very possible that the one was of the 

 Old World, and the other of the New, 

 and then I should believe the Tatula 

 is American rather than the other) 

 After expressing his surprise that 

 Humboldt and Bonpland had found 

 Datura tatula to be common in the 

 mountains of Car^lcas, he still clings to 

 the possibility of its Old World origin, 

 saying: "On indique peu de noms 

 vulgaires pour ces Datura, et le plus 

 souvent ceux usites par les Creoles sont 

 derives des langues europeens et treihis- 

 sent une importation.'"-' ("Only a 

 few native names for Datura are 

 given, and those most freciuently used 

 by the Creoles are derived from Euro- 

 pean languages and betray their im- 

 portation.") As a matter of fact both 

 the white-flowered Datura stramonium 

 and the purple-flowered D. tatula are 

 found growing spontaneously in many 

 parts of North, Central, £md South 



' Dc Candolle, Alphonse. G^ograjjhic IJotr 

 '" Hcvtrlcy, Hist. \'irginia book .3:32, .^9. 1 

 " Hevericy, Hist. Xirginia hook 2:24. 1705. 

 tion for 191f):4()X. 1917. 



America. The latter, which as already 

 stated, is the dominant form is natur- 

 ally most common. De Candolle 

 regretted the absence of vernacular 

 names for them, which he recognized 

 as important in indicating whether 

 they were endemic or imported. For- 

 tunately we have vernacular names for 

 the very species in question. The 

 Aztec name tlapatl still survives in 

 Mexico and is applied to both the 

 white-flowered and purple-flowered 

 forms, sometimes modified to the forms 

 tlapd or tapatl. Professor Pittier re- 

 cords it from Salvador under the 

 form tapd. There is no possibility 

 that these names are of European 

 origin, introduced by the Creoles. 

 In addition to them there are creole 

 names, it is true, such as the significant 

 "vuelve-te-loco" in Guatemala. That 

 the recessive white-flowered form 

 should be "naturalized . . . probably 

 from Asia" and the dominant purple- 

 flowered form, so closely allied to it as 

 to be indistinguishable except by the 

 color of its stem and flowers, should be 

 "naturalized from tropical America" 

 is unthinkable; and there is no valid 

 reason for questioning Linnaeus, who, 

 in establishing the species Datura 

 stramonium, adds to his brief descrip- 

 tion: "Habitat in America, nunc vul- 

 garis per Europamy 



Datura stramonium played an im- 

 portant part in the religious rituals of 

 certain aboriginal tribes of Eastern 

 North America, who used it in the 

 ceremonial called huskanawing, in 

 which boys arriving at the age of 

 puberty were initiated into the status 

 of manhood.^" It takes its common 

 name Jamestown W^eed (now modified 

 to "jimson weed") from its effect upon 

 soldiers sent in 1676 to Jamestown to 

 quell the uprising known as Bacon's 

 Rebellion. The beha\ior of the soldiers 

 while under its influence, as described 

 by Beverley, recalls the intoxicating 

 effects of the Asiatic Datura metel 

 mentioned by the writers already 

 cited. 11 



miquc, 2:77.?. 1855. 



705. 

 Safford, in Annual Report Smithsoni.in Inslitii- 



