514 TJic Inconstancy of Fascia fed Races. 



numbers. To this group, also Asparagus officinalis and 

 several other species seem to belong. 



§ 17. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ATAVISTS. 



As we have seen in the first section of this chapter 

 (page 490) a proper understanding of what is meant by 

 atavism is a necessary basis for the discussion of our 

 appreciation of the inheritance of fasciations, and of 

 anomalies in general. Here, the atavists are not indi- 

 viduals which step out of the race; on the contrary, they 

 are to be regarded merel}^ as specimens in which, from 

 some external cause or other, the anomaly is not mani- 

 fested during their lifetime. In the selection for the 

 continuation of the race they are, of course, not usually 

 ])referred, but as a matter of fact they may serve just as 

 well for this purpose as the fasciated individuals them- 

 selves. 



Extensive investigations are still to be carried out 

 before a complete and proper understanding of the prin- 

 ciples which underlie these phenomena can be attained. 

 The knowledge however, which we already possess, ap- 

 pears to me to be sufiPicient to demonstrate the correctness 

 of the generalization just enunciated. In the first place 

 I mentioned the remarkable fact that the anomalv can re- 

 main latent during a whole generation without disap- 

 pearing forever or even becoming noticeably diminished. 

 Sometimes indeed two or several generations can be 

 skipped in this way. Let me give some instances as proof 

 of this.^ In the fall of 1887 I collected some seed of 

 Tetragoma cxpansa from fruits on very broad stems and 

 obtained, in the following years, 1888-1890, three further 



"^ Botanisch laarhoek, Gent, 1894. 



