Tlic InlicriUuicc of Fasciations. 



489 



on a sufficiently branched individual is fasciated, any more 

 than that all the individuals in a large crop produce the 

 anomaly without exception. The Cclosia cristata, which 

 comes closest to perfection in this respect, is only an ap- 

 parent exception to the rule. 



Fasciations, therefore, afford valuable material for 

 the study of inconstant characters. Moreover they are 



Fig. 104. Ears of r3^e with two and three tops, such as are 

 sometimes found in mowing the fields (1891). 



known everywhere, can be procured by everybody, and 

 are fairly easy to cultivate ; and the successful cultures 

 give rise to beautiful instances of fasciation in a third 

 or even in a greater proportion of the individuals. There 

 is a complete series of transitional forms between the 

 atavists and the most abnormal specimens, inasmuch as 

 the broadening of the axis can be either very slioht or 



