202 Obscrz'afiou of the Origin of Varieties. 



MEiSTER wrote the following words at the end of his 

 account of pelorias.^ 



*'One of the most remarkable features of the varia- 

 tions of plants is, without question, the sharpness and 

 suddenness of the origin of profound deviations from the 

 normal form of structures such as we see it in the phe- 

 nomena just considered, in many analogous cases, and 

 especially in the formation of monstrosities. The new 

 form does not come into existence by the gradual sum- 

 mation of small deviations in one direction, during suc- 

 ceeding generations; it appears all at once, perfectly 

 distinct from the original form." 



This highly important and perfectly correct state- 

 ment rests even now simply on the absence of transi- 

 tional forms, and does not rest on direct observation. 

 If the peloria had originated by a gradual process it 

 would be reasonable to suppose that at least in some of 

 the relatively numerous instances the intermediate steps 

 w^ould have been found ; but as this was not the case it 

 was concluded that they did not exist and therefore that 

 the origin of the variety had been immediate.- 



But it is hardly necessary to point out that nothing 

 short of direct observation can furnish the final proof. 

 Direct observation will moreover inaugurate a new stage 

 in the study of this remarkable phenomenon, by making 



^W. HoFMEiSTER, Allgcmeine Morphologic der Gciv'dchse, 1868, 

 p. 564. 



^ On the pelorias of Linaria, especially of L. spuria, see H. 

 VocHTiNG, Uebcr Blilthcnanomalicn, Jahrb. fi'ir wiss. Botan., Vol. 

 XXXI, No. 3, 1893, and L. Jost, Bliithenanomalien bei Linaria spuria, 

 Biolog. Centralblatt, Vol. XIX, 1899, p. 145. Also J. H. Wakker, 

 Over pelorien, Ned. Kruidk. Archief, Vol. V, p. i, July 1889, with 

 Plate X. P. VuiLLEMiN, Monstruosites ches le Linaria vulgaris, 

 Bull. Soc. Sc, Nancy, Dec. 1893, with one plate (Vol. XIII, 1894, 

 P- 33)- W. and A Bateson, On Variations in the Floral Symmetry, 

 Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot., Vol. 28, 1871, p. 381. 



