AUGUST, 1912.] THE. ORCHID’ REVIEW. 235. 
those of Cattleya Aclandiz. and C. Harrisoniana are comparatively short. 
The number of flowers, perhaps, cannot be ascertained until the seedlings 
have reached their full development, but the same influence seems to be 
at work, for Cattleya Aclandiz has solitary flowers, while the other two 
species have several flowers on a raceme. The other peculiarity mentioned 
is probably due to a leaf-like development of one of the bract-like sheaths 
which may often be seen on the scapes, and this seems to be an abnormal 
development. It can only be called a reversion in the sense that bracts. 
and sheaths are themselves reduced leaves. 
Various hypotheses, more or less plausible, have been put forward to 
account for the remarkable phenomena seen among secondary hybrids, but 
we believe that a satisfactory explanation can be crystallised into the simple 
phrase, 
THE PERMANENCE OF SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 
The sole difference between species and hybrids is one of ancestry. The 
characters of a species have become fixed through having followed the 
same cycle of development through numerous successive generations, during 
which the varicus organs have gradually adapted themselves to the 
conditions of their environment ; meantime the economy of nature has 
gradualiy eliminated useless developments, and a balance or condition of 
harmony has been established between the different parts, the significance 
of which may be summed up in the phrase that species reproduce them- 
selves true from seed. An infinity of characters are involved in the 
development of an individual of any given species, and the amount of 
agreement or diversity between individuals of different species depends upon 
their relationship, and the different phases through which they have passed 
since diverging from the common starting point. 
A hybrid is an individual obtained by the intercrossing of distinct species, 
hence it combines different hereditary tendencies according to the degree of 
relationship between the parents. Hybrids combine more or less conflicting 
elements, and the degree of incompatibility existing between these diverse 
elements is necessarily increased as the gap between the parents widens 
and a greater number of differences are involved. Owing to this incom- 
patability the development of the hybrid is more or less a struggle for 
ascendancy between the discordant elements, and some idea of the nature 
of the resulting compromise can generally be seen on comparing the 
characters of the hybrid with those of its parents. Of course there are 
numerous additional minute and internal characters which cannot be traced 
by superficial examination. 
A hybrid is, therefore, a mosaic, combining more or less dissimilar factors 
or tendencies, and when it comes to form its reproductive cells—pollen and 
ovules—dissociation of the mixed elements takes place. The characters of 
