False Atavism 211 



which reassume the character of the varietal 

 parent, all the others apparently remaining true 

 to the type of the species. Now it is easy to 

 foresee what must happen in the second gen- 

 eration if the first generation after the cross 

 is supposed to be kept free from new vicinistic 

 influences, or from crosses w^ith neighboring 

 varieties. 



We may limit ourselves in the first place to 

 the seeds of the unobserved hvbrids. For the 

 greater part they will repeat the character of 

 their parents and remain again concealed. But a 

 small number will assume the varietal marks, 

 as for example showing white flowers in a 

 field of blue ones. Hence, the indirect conse- 

 quence of the spontaneous crosses will be the 

 same in the species, as was the direct effect 

 in the variety. It only appears a year later. 

 It will then be eliminated in the process of 

 selection. 



Obviously, this elimination conduces only to 

 a partial purification. The conspicuous plants 

 will be destroyed, but a greater number of hy- 

 brids will remain, still concealed by their re- 

 semblance to the general type, and will be 

 spared to repeat the same process next year. 

 So while the variety may be freed every year, 

 from the impurities brought into it in the pre- 

 ceeding summer, the admixtures of the spe- 



