379 



Mr. Watson had succeeded (and I am far from asserting that he may 

 not) in raising the primrose from the seed of the cowslip, or the cow- 

 slip from the seed of the primrose, we should then have been driven 

 to the adoption of one or the other of his two alternatives : to wit, 

 either that one species may generate another, or that the primrose and 

 the cowslip are of one and the same species : the former implying 

 that there is no such thing as species, in the strict sense of the term ; 

 the latter, that if there is such a thing as species, no assignable 

 amount of outward character will suffice for its determination. But 

 if it only appears that two distinct species have been elicited from the 

 mongrel form which contained them both, I do not see that we are 

 under any such compulsion. 



Perhaps I may be allowed, in conclusion, to express my surprise 

 that such experiments as that of Mr. Watson are not more frequent 

 among those who have time and opportunity for the purpose. Sure I 

 am, that the conductors of such experiments are entitled to the grati- 

 tude of all true botanists. For, without depreciating the labours of 

 those who are engaged in the demonstration of external differences, 

 we must admit that those labours will be greatly assisted by a fre- 

 quent reference to the test of reproduction. 



Edward S. Wilson. 



Buglawton, Congleton, 



November 19, 1845. 



Remarks on the usefulness of a Periodical devoted to British Botany ; 

 suggested hy the ' Transactions of the Botanical Society of 

 Edinburgh.^ By Hewett C. Watson, Esq. 



Perhaps the editor of the ^ Phy tologist ' will allow me to call the 

 attention of its readers to the just-published parts of the ' Transac- 

 tions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh ;' and in connexion 

 therewith, to suggest a remedy for a disadvantage which must have 

 been felt by all who are interested in the progress of British Botany. 

 The first and second parts of the second volume of those " Transac- 

 tions," I believe, have only just come out. They are thus described 

 in an advertisement circulated by post : 



"These parts, which occupy 174 pages of letter-press, with no fewer thau nineteen 

 plates, contain many valuable papers on botanical subjects, selected from those read 

 before the Society during the years 1843 and 1844 ; and the committee feel assured 

 that they will be found well calculated to promote the Society's reputation as a scien- 

 tific body." 



