Stability and Real Atavism 181 



from which they must evidently have arisen. 

 Instances are on record of the hazel, Corylus 

 Avellana, of the allied Corylus tiibulosa, of 

 the red beech, the brown birch and of some other 

 purple varieties. Even the red bananas, which 

 bear fruits without seeds and therefore have no 

 other way of being propagated than by buds, 

 have produced a green variety with yellow 

 fruits. The Hortensia of our gardens is an- 

 other instance of a sterile form which has been 

 observed to throw out a branch with cymes 

 bearing in their center the usual small stam- 

 inate and pistillate flowers instead of the large 

 radiate, and neutral corollas of the variety, 

 thereby returning to the original wild type. 

 Crisped weeping willows, crisped parsley and 

 others have reverted in a similar manner. 



All such cases are badly in need of a 

 closer investigation. And as they occur only 

 occasionally, or as it is commonly stated, by ac- 

 cident, the student of nature should be prepared 

 to examine carefully any case which might pre- 

 sent itself to him. Many phases of this difficult 

 problem could no doubt be solved in this way. 

 First of all the question arises as to whether the 

 case is one of real atavism, or is only seemingly 

 so, being due to hybrid or otherwise impure de- 

 scent of the varying individual, and secondly 

 whether it may be only an instance of the regu- 



