THE THREATENED CONFUSION 261 



In a striking metaphor Professor Bateson has 

 objected to the use of the term * variation ' to 

 express certain different forms presented by the 

 individuals of a species : * We might as well,' he 

 says with a fine scorn, * use one term to denote 

 the differences between a bar of silver, a stick of 

 lunar caustic, a shilling, or a teaspoon.' l It 

 would indeed be unreasonable thus to denote 

 the differences between those objects, although 

 their agreement may be quite properly expressed 

 by the single phrase ' forms of silver '. ' Variation,' 

 too, may be reasonably used in a generic sense to 

 cover many widely different departures from what 

 is regarded as the normal form of a species. But, 

 to make use of Professor Bateson's metaphor, 

 we are now threatened with the sort of confusion 

 that would arise if (1) A declared that the word 

 * teaspoon ' meant a teaspoon, and (2) B and C 

 spread broadcast the statement that A had really 

 applied this term not to a teaspoon at all, but to 

 a shilling. 



It is probable that Professor Bateson's and 

 Mr. Punnett's error arose when they became 

 aware that de Vries attributed 'fluctuations' to 

 nutrition, using this term in a broad sense. They 

 do not appear to have realized that, whereas 

 regression rendered evident through heredity is 

 the essential element in de Vries's * fluctuations ', 

 the opinion that they are acquired is quite 

 unessential. De Vries, in fact, treats the trans- 



1 Report Brit. Assoc., Cambr. (1904), 576. 



