THE WHITE BLACKBERRY 



these offspring, and, — the tendency to variation 

 having been stimulated by the hybridizing of these 

 different forms, — the offspring of the second gen- 

 eration showed great diversity, and a tendency to 

 reversion to the traits of the more obscure or less 

 prepotent of the two grandparents. 



In the still later generations, the conflict of 

 hereditary tendencies continuing, an even more 

 striking reversion, according to the principle of 

 atavism, took place in the case of a few of the 

 many progeny, bringing to light the pure white 

 berry as an inheritance from a remote and long 

 forgotten ancestor. 



The Mendelian Explanation 



Now this, as I say, would fairly explain the case 

 of the white blackberry in such terms as were uni- 

 versally employed at the time when this interesting 

 fruit was developed. 



But the evolutionist of today, considering the 

 same facts, would be likely to offer an explanation 

 in Mendelian terms that would have the merit of 

 adding a certain measure of tangibility to the 

 mental picture of the actual processes involved 

 in the hereditary transmission of traits through 

 which the white blackberry was developed. And 

 there can be no question of the convenience of 

 these terms and of their value in aiding to conjure 

 up such a picture, provided it be not supposed that 



[61] 



