FASCIATION,. 19 
Celosia, &e. This condition may be induced by the 
art of the gardener—* Lit idem arte, si plures caules 
enascentes cogantur penetrare coarctatum spatiwm et par- 
twrivi tanquam ea .angusto utero, sic sepe in Rainunculo, 
Beta, Asparago, Hesperide Pinu, Celosid, Tragopogone, 
Scorzonera Cotula fatida,” Linnaeus op. cit. 
Plot, in his ‘ History of Oxfordshire,’ considers fas- 
ciation to arise from the ascent of too much nourish- 
ment for one stalk and not enough for two, ‘‘ which 
accident of plants,” says Plot, the German virtuosi 
(‘ Misc. Curios. Med. Physic. Acad. Nat. Cur.,’ Ann. i, 
Observ. 102,) “think only to happen after hard and 
late winters, by reason whereof, indeed, the sap, being 
restrained somewhat longer than ordinary, upon sudden 
thaws may probably be sent up more forcibly, and so 
produce these fasciated stalks, whereas the natural and 
graduated ascent would have produced them but 
single.” Prof. Hincks’ explanation is, however, more 
near to the truth, and his opinion is borne out by the 
frequency with which this change is met with in certain 
plants which are frequently forced on during their 
orowth, as lettuce, asparagus, endive, &c., all of which 
are very subject to this change. In the ‘ Transactions 
of the Horticultural Society of London,’ vol. iv, p. 321, 
Mr. Knight gives an account of the cultivation of the 
cockscomb, so as to ensure the production of the very 
large flower-stalks for which this plant is admired. 
The principal points in the culture were the applica- 
tion of a large quantity of stimulating manure and the 
maintenance of a high temperature. One of them so 
grown measured eighteen inches in width. 
The list which is appended is intended to show those 
plants in which fasciation has been most frequently 
observed. It makes no pretension to be complete, but 
is sufficiently so for the purpose indicated : the * denotes 
the especial frequency of the change in question; the ! 
indicates that the writer has himself seen the plant, so 
marked, affected in this way. The remainder have been 
copied from various sources. 
