378 



If these two questions can be answered in the affirmative, I do not 

 see that the results of Mr. Watson's experiment are in any way in- 

 consistent with the received law of species. 



1. — As to the fertility of the vegetable hybrid, I confess that I am 

 ignorant of any facts bearing upon the subject, but some of your cor- 

 respondents will, no doubt, be better informed. 



2. — The plant sown by Mr. Watson is said to have been P. inter- 

 media of the 'London Catalogue.' I cannot certainly say that this 

 plant has fallen under my own observation ; but there is an oxlip, of 

 no unfrequent occurrence in the cowslip-fields of this neighbourhood, 

 to which I have always attached the name of " intermedia," from its 

 significance. It is found either with or without a scape, or with both 

 forms of inflorescence proceeding from the same root. In the form 

 and pubescence of its calyx, the colour and expanse of its corolla, 

 the shape of its leaves and the odour of its flowers, it is exactly half- 

 way, so to speak, between the primrose and the cowslip. It grows 

 near the margin of the field, where there are primroses on the hedge- 

 bank. That this plant is a hybrid, I have scarcely any doubt, but 

 whether it is identical with the subject of Mr. Watson's experiment, 

 remains to be seen. 



Supposing it granted, however, that Mr. Watson's plant was really 

 a hybrid, and of course a fertile hybrid, we have to consider next, 

 what would be its law of reproduction. And here we must recollect 

 that a hybrid is not a species, nor is it, properly speaking, a variety of 

 any one species. It is a variety compounded of two species, from nei- 

 ther of which is it sepaiated by more than the usual range of variation. 

 Now, if we were to speculate, a priori, on the probable offspring of such 

 a being (having respect to the two grand laws of generation, — that like 

 produces like, within certain limits, — and that varieties tend to revert 

 to their original types; assuming also that the parental influence might 

 be unequally distributed through the reproductive system of the hy- 

 brid), should we not say that it would consist of precisely such a 

 series of forms as that obtained by Mr. Watson ? The case seems to 

 me analogous to that of a large family of children, where one child 

 may be a copy of the father, a second of the mother, while the rest 

 may exhibit various degrees of resemblance to both parents. I am 

 aware that the two cases are not exactly parallel, but the analogy be- 

 tween them is sufficiently strong for the purpose of illustration. 



Now I admit that all this is purely hypothetical. Still, if it be not 

 contradicted by facts, T think it may fairly be w eighed against other 

 hypotheses of a more startling and improbable aspect. If, indeed, 



