'-^^::S 



■y tend 



'Ost 



to 



^"^e alterati 

 been 



ics in 



ion 



With 



respect to ; 



i informs me k 

 lis from differem 



"om Wales 



iL. 



ire indigenooSjiGl' 



I 



I assume the "nab; 



I 



rded a mud r. 



)res 



t once 



altered ft^ 



prominent W 

 the propel" 



ividual 



exhibite'^ 



hell, =1 



sncii) 



e 



ffects 



ofc 



broug 



ht a 



bout 



I 



;xampJ^^ 



) 



IVlr.^^' 



. ^ 



. ^ ' vol. ii' P' 



280' 



77/i5: BEGINNINGS OF LIFE, 



581 



cites the following: 



■'The wood of the American 

 locust-tree {Rohima), when grown in England, is nearly 

 worthless, as is that of the oak-tree when grown at the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Hemp and flax, as I hear from 

 Dr. Falconer, flourish and yield plenty of seed on the 

 plains of India, but their fibres are brittle and useless. 

 Hemp, on the other hand, fails to produce in England 

 that resinous matter which is so largely used in India 



as an intoxicating drug. 



. The fruit of the melon 



is greatly influenced by slight differences in culture and 



climate. 



« • 



It is well known that American varieties 



ma 



and brightly-coloured fruit, but in England of a poor 

 quality and a dull colour/ Again, twenty-nine kinds 

 of American trees, belonging to different orders, have 

 been compared with their nearest European allies by 

 Mr. Meehan ^, and have almost invariably been found 

 nature, nainel)',':' to differ from the latter in many similar respects, e.g. 

 of England • in the leaves being less deeply serrated, whilst they fall 



earlier and have a brighter tint, in the buds and seeds 



bemg smaller, and in the trees being more diffuse in 

 growth. Mr. Darwin agrees with Mr. Meehan in 

 thinking that these differences must almost exclusively 

 have been ^ caused by the long-continued action of the 

 difl^erent climate of the two continents on the trees.' 

 Different climates also affect 

 manner, in the 



course 



in a most marked 



r 



r three generations, 



^ ^Proc. Acad. Nat. Soa of PMkdelpWa/ Jan, 28, 1862. 



