THE SELF-FERTILIZATION OF PLANTS. 313 



went a retrograde metamorphosis; "the surface of the 

 stigma, in contact with the pollen, and the pollen itself, 

 becoming * * dark brown and then decaying;" 

 When the plant became still more modified, the vigor 

 of the plant was gone; and the individual died. The 

 individuals of each species of plant are at present to be 

 seen in one, several, many, or all of these stages. This 

 is the explanation of the "graduated series." This is 

 more than "interesting:" It is a complete, quantita- 

 tive solution of all the diverse phenomena. 



Speaking of those species, which have but some in- 

 dividuals self-impotent, Darwin says (p. 174, Vol. ii, 

 Animals and Plants, &c.) : 



" This peculiar state of the reproductive organs, 

 when occurring in certain individuals alone, is evi- 

 dently abnormal." 



What a wealth of knowledge, is here conveyed. 

 He can but mean, that exceptions to the general rule 

 for a given species, are (sic) evidently exceptions ! He 

 cannot intend anything else ; for, he is precluded from 

 using the words "normal," and "abnormal" in any 

 other sense, by his theory, viz., that there is no fixed 

 status, for any organisms, because the law of their 

 development is constant change. The above, is but 

 another of his re-statements of what he affects to ex- 

 plain. 



The self-impotence, of which he speaks, and all 

 cases of sterility and of lessened fertility, are ab- 

 normal. It matters not, whether they occur in certain 

 individuals alone, of a species ; or whether they occur 



in all of the individuals of a species. It is not the 

 32* 



