the Fecundation of Vegetables, 99 



produced, many of which were, in fize, and in every other 

 refpeA, much fuperior to the original white kind, and grew 

 with exceffive Kixuriance, fome of them attaining the height 

 of more than twelve feet. I had frequent occafion to obferve 

 in this plant a ftronger tendency to produce purple blofToms ; 

 and coloured feeds, than white ones : for, when I introduced 

 the farina of a purple bloffbm into a white one, the whole of 

 the feeds in the fucceeding year became coloured ; but, when 

 I endeavoured to difcharge this colour, by reverfing the pro- 

 cefs, a part only of them afforded plants with white bloflbms j 

 this part fometimes occupying one end of the pod, and being 

 at other times irregularly intermixed with thofe which, when 

 fown, retained their colour. It may perhaps be fuppofed, 

 that fomething might depend on the quantity of farina em- 

 ployed; but I never could difcover, in this, or in any other 

 experiment in which fuperfoetation did not take place, that 

 the largeft or fmalleft quantity of farina afforded ariy differ- 

 ence in the effeft produced. 



The diffimilarity I obferved in the offspring afforded by 

 diflerent kinds of farina, in thefe experiments, pointed out 

 to me an eafy method of afcertaining whether fuperfoetation 

 (the exiftence of which has been admitted amongft animals) 

 could alfo take place in the vegetable world. For, as the 

 offspring of a white pea is always white, unlefs the farina of 

 a coloured kind be introduced into the bloffom, and, as the 

 colour of the gray one is always transferred to its offspring, 

 though the female be white, it readily occurred to me, that 

 if the farina of both were mingled, or applied at the fame 

 moment, the offspring of each could be eafily diftinguifhed. 



My tirfl experiment was not altogether fuccefsful ; for the 

 offspnng of five pods (the whole which efcaped the birds) 

 received their colour from the coloured male. There was, 

 however, a flrong refemblance to the other male, in the 

 growth and charac9;er of more than one of the plants ; and 

 the feeds of fcveral, in the autumn, very clofely refembled it 

 in every thing but colour. In tliis experiment I ufed the 

 farina of a white pea, which poffcfTcd the remarkable pro- 

 perty of flirivelling exceflively when ripe; and, in the fe- 

 coikI year, I obtained white feeds, from the gray ones above 

 O 2 mentioned. 



