330 GEOEGB JOHN EOMANES i893 



selects a slightly improved form, till the required 

 type is fixed. The ' Student ' is now a", a more or 

 less permanently fixed form, each of the intermediate 

 forms, lasting one year, having ceased to be reproduced. 



3. The geographical distribution of varieties and 

 species by self-adaptation. 



That is, if a number of plants migrate to a new 

 locality with new environmental conditions, half of 

 them may die ; because they cannot adapt them- 

 selves ; the other half may live — change, and become 

 fixed forms, by their power of adaptation. The final 

 conclusion of the whole is that plants require nothing 

 more than climatic influences, to which their proto- 

 plasm may respond. The result is new varietal or 

 specific characters. Then, if the same environment 

 lasts, these become gradually more and more fixed 

 and hereditary, but one can never tell beforehand but 

 that the oldest plant in creation may not change 

 again as soon as it finds a new environment. . . . 

 This is what a long study of plants and experiments 

 has led me to ; and it is not a conclusion arrived at 

 solely by ' thinking out ' or evolving from my own 

 consciousness — like the German camel ! 



Hoping you are progressing. 



Believe me, yours sincerely, 



Geoege Henslow. 



Hotel I'Ermitage, Costebelle, Hyferes, France : October 29, 1893. 



Dear Mr. Henslow, — You will correctly infer from 

 this address that I shall not be able to attend the 

 Linnean Society meeting on the 16th prox. For two 



