Origin of Peloric Toadflax 473 



these, stray peloric flowers were observed in 

 somewhat larger number than in the previous 

 generations, 11 plants bearing one or two, 

 or even three such abnormalities. This, how- 

 ever, could not be considered as a real advance, 

 since such plants may occur in varying, though 

 ordinarily, small numbers in every generation. 



Besides them a single plant was seen to bear 

 onlypeloric flowers ; it produced racemes on sev- 

 eral stems and their branches. All were peloric 

 without exception. I kept it through the winter, 

 taking care to preserve a complete isolation of 

 its roots. The other plants were wholly de- 

 stroyed. Such annihilation must include both 

 the stems and roots and the latter of course re- 

 quires considerable labor. The following year, 

 however, gave proof of the success of the opera- 

 tion, since my plant bloomed luxuriously for the 

 second time and remained true to the type of 

 the first year, producing peloric flowers ex- 

 clusively. 



Here we have the first experimental mutation 

 of a normal into a peloric race. Two facts were 

 clear and simple. The ancestry was known for 

 over a period of four generations, living under 

 the ordinary care and conditions of an experi- 

 ment garden, isolated from other toad-flaxes, 

 but freely fertilized by bees or at times by my- 

 self. This ancestry was quite constant as to 



