RECE.\T RESEARCHES IN THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. 



507 



an October issue of The Independent y tells 

 of a rather remarkable experience with 

 tomatoes, an experience which he thinks 

 g'oes to show conclusively that varieties can 

 orig^inate bysudden changeor mutation in the 

 seed plants. He first points out the botanical 

 classification of the tomato, and divides the 

 group into three forms, known as Lycopersi- 

 <:xim esculentum, L. solanopsis^ and L. Latifol- 

 iaium, respectively. Each one of these in- 

 cludes some of the large number of varieties 

 catalogued by our seedsmen ; yet each form is 

 readily distinguished by diff'erences of flower 

 and leaf, and of general habit and relative 

 size of the plants. L. latifoliatum is repre- 

 sented in our Canadian catalogues by the 

 variety Mikado or Turner's Hybrid, while a 

 good example of Z. esculentum is the Acme. 

 Now Dr. White's experience was as fol- 

 lows : In 1898 he obtained some seed of 

 the Acme, raised the plants and set out his 

 small plot of about thirty plants. These 

 grew and fruited, and were typical of the 

 variety in every way. Seed was saved from 

 some of the best fruits and plants raised 

 therefrom in the spring of 1899, with the 

 expectation of obtaining a crop of Acme 

 from them. Dr. White thus describes the 

 result: "The seeds germinated promptly 

 and the young plants grew healthfull) , but 

 from their first appearance above ground 

 they showed a marked difference from the 

 Acme plants from which they sprang. When 

 they reached the fruiting stage they had all 

 developed into typical representatives oi Ley- 

 ■copersicum solnnopsis. To put the matter 

 in the strongest light, I repeat that the 

 whole crop changed uniformly and com- 

 pletely from Z. esciilenhim to Z. solanopsts, 

 the change having taken place in the germ- 

 inating seeds, which I planted in the spring 

 of i8og. Not only was there complete 

 plant mutation, but the fruit differed in 

 flavor, consistence and shade of color from 

 that of the parent Acme plants, and it also 

 ripened earlier than did the latter. 



Unfortunately, Dr. White did not save any 

 seed from this new type. In 1900, however, 

 he replanted with Acme, to see if the same 

 result would follow. The seed was obtained 

 from another source, a hundred miles from 

 Washington, and the plants raised there- 

 from came true to type. Special care was 

 exercised in the selection of seed from typi- 

 cal plants both as regards plant and fruit. 

 This seed, sown in 1901, produced plants 

 with the same characteristics as those of 

 1899. Exactly the same change had oc- 

 curred in both these years. 



Both White and De Vries prove conclus- 

 ively that the changes in the plants under 

 their observation were not the result of hy- 

 bridization, as many would contend. If not 

 hybridization, then what ? The new plant 

 form appeared suddenly with all its charac- 

 teristics in full perfection. It was perfect 

 upon its first appearance, and constant in 

 its progeny. Such being the case, then 

 varieties may originate by sudden change or 

 mutation. As De Vries says : "Varieties 

 may originate by one or two other methods, 

 yet some undoubtedly did arise by mutation 

 or abrupt change, an instance which came 

 under my observation." 



This theory is not in any way opposed to 

 that of evolution, but simply furnishes a 

 concrete example pf the way evolution takes 

 place. It appears to those who doubted 

 the statements ot many scientists that life 

 has existed on the earth for a period of time 

 almost beyond human comprehension. So, 

 too, it allows of those who still believe in 

 the special creation of species a right to a 

 place among rational scientists. De Vries 

 thinks it is possible to study the production 

 of such new forms as observed by White 

 and others, and to ascertain the laws which 

 govern them. Then, with a thorough know- 

 ledge of these laws and the causes of mu- 

 tation, one might even aspire to attain a 

 method of producing the new forms at will. 



P. W. H. 



