Miscellaneous. 35 X 



that, supposing (as he conceives possible) the seeds of the nio«t 

 aberrant flower to produce plants with similar flowers, the case would 

 not even then militate against Mr. Darwin's theory, but the con- 

 trary. In the tirst place, let us attentively study this'Begonia itself ■ 

 Its flowers are, hke those of its congenefs, normally unisexual, and 

 produced m great abundance, both males and females, in the same 

 fascicles all oyer the plant. The female flowers are perfectly con- 

 stant in all their characters, except that they vary in havin- 3-4 

 cells and stigmas to the ovary and as many" wines (which is not 

 without precedent m the genus). The males have usually 6-1.5 

 stamens in the very centre of the flower, with no trace of stiemas or 

 ovary; and not 10 per cent, present any deviation from this condi- 

 tion. Of those that do deviate, most have 3-.5 deformed stamens or 

 rudimentary ovaries in the axis of the flower, and proportionally 

 fewer perfect stamens ; and between the normal male flower and the 

 very rare instances of a regular flower with four superior carpels 

 (more or less united in the axis) and as many hypoeynous stamens 

 opposite the sei)als, we find flowers with every couceiVable modifica- 

 tion in number, regularity, and perfection of stamens and carpels, 

 l^astly, the abnormal carpels always bear very few ovules indeed, as 

 compared with the normal ones. Now, it is very startling to be 

 askect is It not a ' saltus' for a plant at one bound to change an 

 interior ovary and unisexual flowers into a superior ovary and bi- 

 sexual flowers ? " but there is another way of puttins the'question 

 which IS more accurate, however flat it may fall on^he ear • viz ' 

 IS It a 'saltus' that a Begonia should produce male flowers, in a 

 very ttvf of which the central stamens are deformed, and in others 

 are converted into more or less rudimentary or even perfect free or 

 connate pistils ? '' So much for the plant. ' My friend proceeds to 

 say that "according to Darwin's hypothesis it would have required 

 hundreds, perhaps thousands, of successive generations to have en- 

 abled natural selection to convert an inferior ovary and unisexual 

 flowers into a superior ovary and bisexual flowers.'' Mr. Darwin 

 will, 1 think, demur to this, and still more to the rash assumption 

 tliat, supposmg any seeds of the hermaphrodite flowers of the 

 iJegonia should produce plants bearing none but hermaphrodite 

 nowers, the latter would constitute even a new species amongst 

 botanists who would infallibly detect the true nature of the sport in 

 this (as they have in similar cases), as soon as the normal state of 

 the plant were known. In the first place, we do not know how 

 many generations have elapsed since Begonia frujidu commenced to 

 bear any hermaphrodite flowers, nor how many generations may 

 elapse before all traces of unisexual flowers will be obliterated in the 

 progeny of a plant now bearing only about 5 per cent, of bisexual 

 flowers; and it is to be borne in mind not only that these ovaries 

 are incomparably the least prolific, but further, that, from bein- 

 hermaphrodite, they are likely to be self-fertilized, and, according to 

 Mr. Darwm's well-established observations, will hence give birth to 

 a less numerous and less vigorous progeny. Nor must it be for- 

 gotten that this may be the lingering type of a by-gone phase of 

 Wegouiacece when all had superior ovaiies ; for that it may be the 



