336 THE SELF-FEKTILIZATION OF PLANTS. 



duced by Man ; under the ignorant impression that it 

 is useless. 



Together with the reduction of certain characters, 

 by man, there ensues a reduction of other features, to 

 which the first are correlated. With respect to these, 

 Darwin speaks most learnedly, of " a natural tendency ; 

 in certain parts, to. become rudimentary." 



"In the Broccoli and cauliflower,'' says he, "the 

 greater number of the flowers are incapable of expan- 

 sion, and include rudimentary organs. In the Feather 

 hyacinth (Muscari comosuni), the upper, and central 

 florets are rudimentary ; under cultivation,' the ten- 

 dency to abortion travels downwards and outwards, and 

 all the flowers become rudimentary. * * In these 

 several cases, we have a natural tendency (sic) in cer- 

 tain parts, to become rudimentary, and this, under cul- 

 ture, spreads either to, or from, the axes of the Plants. 

 * * According to A de Jussieu, the abortion is only 

 partial,- in Carthamus creticus, but more extended in 

 C. lanatus ; for, in this species, two or three alone, of 

 the central seeds, are furnished with a pappus, the 

 surrounding seeds being either quite naked, or fur- 

 nished with a few hairs ; and, .lastly, in C. tinctorins, 

 even the central seeds are destitute of pappus, and the 

 abortion is complete." 



But, not merely by the degeneration, effected under 

 nature, and by the systematic, or the unintentional re- 

 duction or suppression of organs, by Man, is the struc- 

 tural and the physiological integrity of Plants, impaired. 

 Man's object, in cultivating Plants, is to increase their 

 development. But, the manner in which he strives to 

 effect this, only adds to the physiological injury. For, 

 he vitiates, the more, the true proportion, by selecting 



