378 TRANSMISSION 



The corn from New York was evidently the better seed, 

 because its final percentage of germination was higher. 



This fact might account for some portion of the difference in 

 promptness of germination, but we are informed that during the 

 entire month of the experiment the plants from the northern- 

 grown seed were the " largest and most vigorous of any." They 

 were evidently ahead in their development. Bailey remarks that 

 not only "corn gave the most marked results in favor of the 

 northern samples, but there was generally a similar difference 

 in the watermelons and beans, with not one contrary result." 



Bonnier 1 made observations with Teucrium Scorodonia (wood 

 sage) for eight years. When grown on the high altitudes of the 

 Pyrenees it produced shorter stems, darker-green and more hairy 

 leaves, and more compact inflorescence than when grown on lower 

 land. Seeds gathered from these plants and sown in Paris, after 

 three years in the new habitat "produced elongated stems, with 

 less hairy and brighter-green leaves, or plants very similar to 

 those from seeds obtained in the neighborhood of Paris." 



The same experimenter collected specimens of other species, 

 both in alpine and in arctic regions, and found that those of the 

 latter region had "more rounded cells" and larger intercellular 

 spaces. 2 



That races as well as individuals acclimate to temperature is 

 easily shown and well known, but as the process is generally 

 accompanied by selection there is difficulty in finding instances 

 free from its influence, and it is practically impossible to assess 

 and deduct its results. It is not impossible, however, to find 

 cases fairly satisfactory. 



The origin and history of the Shetland pony is not known, 

 and yet it is practically certain that its small size is partly the 

 result of a cold climate and scanty feed. Under these adverse 

 conditions there must have been vigorous natural selection. We 

 shall learn in the chapter on " Heredity " that this small size 

 could doubtless be accounted for by progressive selection, but 

 the question here is whether progressive acclimatization is not 

 also involved. 



1 Vernon, Variation in Animals and Plants, p. 312, from which the account 

 is taken. 2 Ibid. p. 313. 



