214 Retrograde Varieties 



characters are in either case the same. Perhaps 

 on close inspection you may find in some cases 

 a slight difference, some character being not 

 as fully developed in the hybrid as in the spe- 

 cies. But when such is not the case, or where 

 the opportunity for such a closer examination 

 is wanting, a hybrid may easily be taken for a 

 specimen of the pure race. Now take the seeds 

 of your plant and sow them. If you had not 

 supposed it to be hybrid you will be astonished 

 at finding among its progeny some of a wholly 

 different type. You will be led to conclude 

 that you are observing a sudden change in 

 structure such as is usually called a sport. 



Or in other words you may think that you are 

 assisting at the origination of a new variety. 

 If you are familiar with the principle of vicin- 

 ism, you will refrain from such an inference and 

 consider the supposition of a hybrid origin. 

 But in former times, when this principle 

 was still unknown and not even guessed 

 at, it is evident that many mistakes must have 

 been made, and that many an instance, which 

 until now has been considered reliable proof 

 of a so-called single variation, is in fact only a 

 case of vicinism. In reading the sparse litera- 

 ture on sports, numerous cases will be found, 

 which cannot stand this test. In many instances 

 crossing must be looked to as an explanation, 



