DE VRIES ON 'FLUCTUATIONS' 267 



After reading the impetuous conclusions ex- 

 pressed at the end of the last-quoted passage, it is 

 refreshing to turn to Darwin's calm and convinc- 

 ing statement in the letter quoted on p. 48. 



(5) Even sugar-beets, the oldest " selected " agricultural 

 plants are far from having freed themselves from the 

 necessity of continuous improvement. Without this they 

 would not remain constant, but would retrograde with 

 great rapidity.' ' 



It will now be of interest to inquire how de Vries's 

 ' fluctuations ' have been understood by others, and 

 especially by his friend and fellow countryman, 

 Professor A. A. W. Hubrecht, the distinguished 

 zoologist. A few years ago Professor Hubrecht 

 wrote an account of de Vries's contributions to 

 evolutionary thought in the Popular Science 

 Monthly. 2 The editor has added the following 

 note to the article (p. 205) : ' This article was 

 written in English by Professor Hubrecht, the 

 eminent Dutch zoologist, who has an equal com- 

 mand of the French and German languages.' 

 Every one who has the privilege of the friendship 

 of Professor Hubrecht and knows of his great 

 linguistic powers will agree that probably no 

 other man is so qualified to express de Vries's 

 precise meaning in the English language. I 

 select seven passages from the article in question. 

 All of them would be meaningless if * fluctuations' 

 are supposed to be non-transmissible by heredity. 



1 Species and Varieties, 109. 



2 For July, 1904 : 205-23, 'Hugo de Vries'a Theory of Mutations.' 



