266 On the Botanical Origin of Wheat. 



the parent plant, and the spikes of these presented the most 

 perfect resemblance to those of that variety of /Egilops triti- 

 coides, in which the awns are half abortive,, and as it were 

 rudimentary."" The second experiment was conducted by care- 

 fully opening the glumellas of the JEgilops to such an extent as 

 to admit a fine pair of forceps, and with these to extract the 

 stamens and substitute the anthers of Triticum vulgare muti- 

 cum. These anthers were selected from those just ready to 

 open, so that the foreign pollen might be taken at once by the 

 stigma. After the insertion of these anthers, the flowers were 

 gently pressed together again, and left to fertilize. The result 

 of this experiment was the production of plants of JEgilops 

 iriticoid.es from all the seeds ripened from the flowers experi- 

 mented upon. The third experiment was conducted by re- 

 moving the anthers from four spikes of JEgilops ovata, and 

 replacing them, with the anthers of Triticum spelta barbatnm, 

 the result of which was the production of a new hybrid, not 

 one haviug the characters of the parent plant. From these 

 results Dr. Godron arrives at the following conclusions : — 1st, 

 that hybrids may be obtained spontaneously from grasses, 

 JEgilojps triticoides being the first example known amongst 

 them; 2ndly, that Mgilops and Triticum have not sufficiently 

 distinguishing characters to separate them, and consequently 

 must be considered as one and the same genus ; 3rdly, that 

 the conclusions of M. Fabre that the origin of wheat is to be 

 traced to JEgilops ovata, or that one species can be transformed 

 into the other, has not sufficient evidence to support it. 



After such careful experiments and lucid reasoning from 

 M. Fabre on the one hand and Dr. Godron on the other, many 

 might be almost inclined to confess themselves converts to 

 both opinions, though the arguments of M. Faber seem to us 

 to have the greatest weight. We are continually having fresh 

 proofs of the variation of species, and we know perfectly well 

 what great changes are produced in plants by cultivation. We 

 know, also, how distinct and numerous, even in wheat itself, 

 the varieties are, and these distinctions are the effects of culti- 

 vation. Besides this we have abundant proofs of extraordinary 

 changes and developments in nearly all our kitchen-garden 

 plants. The potato, for instance, is one of the best examples 

 of this, for, with all our fine and choice varieties, it is but the 

 offspring of a small tuber having a bitter taste, a native of 

 Chili and Peru. Our carrots, turnips, etc., in their wild state, 

 are uninviting woody roots, and, in short, our gardens are 

 filled with similar examples. 



Having, therefore, so many proofs of the mutability of 

 species, and the experiments of M. Fabre and Professor Duck- 

 man to help us, we look upon the theory of the origin of wheat 



