LINNAEUS AS AN EVOLUTIONIST 81 



of other kindred expressions regarding the 

 possibility of the descent of some species 

 from others. 



Only three pages away from the record of 

 his thought about the origin of the Thalictrum, 

 under Clematis maritima occurs this remark: 

 "Magnol and also Ray have adjudged this 

 to be a variety of C. flammula. I should 

 rather think it is derived from C. recta under 

 altered conditions." Now while this remark, 

 standing by itself, might indicate an opinion 

 that the plant under discussion was a mere 

 variety of Clematis recta, yet Linnaeus did 

 not so place it in this or any other of his 

 books. He gives it the rank of a species, 

 distinctly, and must needs have done so in 

 view of his own definition of varieties as 

 transient forms, developed mostly under culti- 

 vation. Clematis maritima, as its name indi- 

 cates, is a seaside species, unchanged in its 

 character from immemorial ages. He knew 

 all this and held it to be not a variety but a 

 derivative species; not one so created in the 

 beginning. 



Again, next to the familiar Achillcea ptar- 

 mica, of almost all Europe, he places the name 

 and description of Achillcea alpina known only 

 from the mountains of Siberia. No botanical 



