474 Mutations 



the peloric peculiarity, remaining true to the 

 wild type as it occurs everywhere in my country, 

 and showing in no respect any tendency to the 

 production of a new variety. 



The mutation took place at once. It was a 

 sudden leap from the normal plants with very 

 rare peloric flowers to a type exclusively 

 peloric. No intermediate steps were observed. 

 The parents themselves had borne thousands of 

 flowers during two summers, and these were 

 inspected nearly every day, in the hope of find- 

 ing some pelories and of saving their seed sep- 

 arately. Only one such flower was seen. If 

 there had been more, say a few in every hun- 

 dred flowers, it might be allowable to consider 

 them as previous stages, showing a preparation 

 of the impending change. But nothing of this 

 kind was obser^^ed. There was simply no vis- 

 ible preparation for the sudden leap. 



This leap, on the other hand, was full and 

 complete. No reminiscence of the former con- 

 dition remained. Not a single flower on the 

 mutated plant reverted to the previous type. 

 All were thoroughly affected by the new attri- 

 bute, and showed the abnormally augmented 

 number of spurs, the tubular structure of the 

 corolla and the round and narrow entrance of 

 its throat. The whole plant departed absolute- 

 ly from the old type of its progenitors. 



