66 



NATURE 



[May 20, 1897 



that they have been reached by leaps and bounds. In de- 

 veloping any particular character it is, to use his own words, 

 always done by a " ladder," i.e. continuous self- fertilisation and 

 selection. The stage shown in Fig. 3 owes its preservation to 

 its having retained fragrance. Beyond this 

 stage fragrance has been lost. 



An interesting question is whether there 

 is any limit to the extent to which an organ 

 can be developed, and if so, what ? It is to 

 be hoped that Mr. Martin will continue his 



me that it had been of frequent occurrence. Spreading flowers 

 had always been destroyed as departing from a desirable type. 

 More recently, on account of their orchid-like habit, they had 

 taken the popular fancy, and had been preserved. 



Fic. 3. 



work in this direction and strive, if only as a matter of scien- 

 tific interest, to increase the size of the corolla to the maximum 

 possible. The only check will probably be found to be the 

 general balance of nutrition. 



Spreading. 

 I was much struck to find amongst a magnificent series of 

 specimens, kindly sent me by Messrs. Sutton, forms with the 

 segments of the corolla spreading instead of reflexed (Fig. 6). 



I have received even more striking examples from Messrs. Hugh 

 Low and Co. This is remarkable because, as I have already 

 pointed out, the latter is a distinctive generic character in 

 Cyclamen. Although the alteration in the appearance of the 

 flower is enormous, the structural change is slight. It is merely 

 a matter of direction of growth. It amounts, however, to the 

 loss of a generic character and a reversion to a more generalised 

 type. The change is therefore essentially atavistic. 



I was unable to obtain from Mr. Martin any explanation of 

 how this particular variation had come about, but he informed 



NO. 1438, VOL. 50] 



Doubling. 



Even in the wild type there is a tendency to a slight multi- 

 plication of the corolla segments. Mr. Martin has worked 



