TRANSMUTABLE. 83 



even the solitary species which was made so 

 much use of by the author of the "Vestiges." 



Among the assumed instances of transmutation, 

 that of the ^Egilops triticoides was considered 

 the best. Hear what a close inquiry into the 

 subject brings out: "^Egilops triticoides. This 

 plant, which was considered by M. Fabre as a 

 stage in the transition of ^Egilops ovata into 

 cultivated wheat, has been shewn by Godron to 

 be a hybrid procured from M. ovata, fertilized 

 by the pollen of wheat. Regel in Germany, 

 Yilmorin and Greenland in Paris, and Planchon 

 at Montpellier, have confirmed this statement. 

 JEgilops triticoides is generally sterile, but it 

 sometimes bears fertile seeds. These seeds, when 

 sown, have produced plants called by M. Fabre, 

 Mgilops speltiforrnis. This has been shewn by 

 Godron to be a hybrid between JE. triticoides 

 and Triticum vulgare, common wheat. ("Comptes 

 Rendues," 1858.) 



My friend, Dr. Maclean, who has all his life 

 been making investigations into this subject, 

 denies even a common origin to the cowslip and 

 the primrose, and among the few strictly mule 

 plants which he has produced, he never knew an 

 instance of fertility, or obtained any satisfactory 

 evidence of such a fact in either the animal or 

 vegetable kingdoms. 



Mr. Darwin admits that Gartner and Kolreuter 

 have devoted their lives to this subject, and he 

 attempts to reason away the conclusion they have 

 arrived at, which is, that sterility is universal, 



