198 THE METHOD OF DARWIN. 



bushes growing in another place about a mile 

 distant." He did so, and found some variability 

 among the females in the power of producing 

 fruit and seed, and great variability in the 

 "hermaphrodites," the latter never producing 

 as much or as fine seed as the other. At this 

 third stage it was clear that the plants of the 

 spindle-tree are neither part of them female and 

 part hermaphrodite, nor part of them female and 

 the rest, with both sets of organs, practically 

 male in function. The truth lay between the 

 two extremes, the variations in the one or other 

 direction depending even on the character of 

 the season. He said, " This case appears to me 

 very interesting, as showing how gradually an 

 hermaphrodite plant maybe converted into a 

 dioecious one." The final result of the long 

 drawn out investigation was in harmony with 

 his general doctrine of the descent of species, 

 and is an illustration of some of the best evi- 

 dence that has yet been adduced in its support. 

 To him it was interesting, because it showed 

 how gradually an hermaphrodite plant may be 

 converted into a dioecious one. To the student 

 of scientific method it is interesting as an 

 example of how an investigation, by stopping 

 short of exhaustion of the field, may lead, not 

 only to imperfect, but to false conclusions. 



