THE SELF-FERTILIZATION OF PLANTS. 353 



again, the crossed plants showed from the first their 

 advantage; they never quite reached the summit of the 

 seven foot rod, but relatively to the self-fertilized 

 plants, their average height was 7 feet to 5 feet 2 

 inches." (This is a good instance of Darwin's Natu- 

 ral Selection. Although stronger and more vig- 

 orous than the other lot of plants in the same pot they 

 were, — relatively to the plants, in the other pot, which 

 had, each, a pole.to itself, — rather degenerated. If the 

 conditions were made more unfavorable, they would — 

 even whilst retaining their character of being stronger 

 and more vigorous than those succumbing — be degen- 

 erating. Yet, Darwin, in his argument of Natural 

 Selection, would have his readers believe, that the 

 mere fact that they were stronger and more vigorous 

 than those of their fellow lot, argued a net advance in 

 development for the species). " The experiment was 

 repeated in the two following generations, with plants 

 raised from the self-fertilized and crossed plants, treated 

 in exactly the same manner, and with nearly the same 

 result. In the second generation, the crossed plants, 

 which were again crossed, produced 1 2 1 seed-capsules, 

 whilst the self-fertilized plants, again self-fertilized, pro- 

 duced only 84 capsules. 



" Some flowers of the Mimulus luteus were fertilized 

 with their own pollen, and others were crossed with 

 pollen from distinct plants, growing in the same pot. 

 The seeds after germination, were thickly planted on 

 opposite sides of a pot. The seedlings were at first 

 equal in height ; but, when the young crossed plants 

 were exactly one-half an inch, the self-fertilized plants 

 were only a quarter of . an inch high. But, this 

 inequality did not continue, for when the crossed plants 

 were four and a half inches high, the self-fertilized 

 plants were three inches, and they retained the same 

 relative difference, till their growth was complete. The 

 crossed plants looked far more vigorous than the un- 



