78 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 



aroused to the remarkable fact that seedlings of self-fertilised 

 parentage are inferior, even in the first generation, in height 

 and vigour to seedlings of cross-fertilised parentage. I hope 

 also to republish a revised edition of my book on Orchids, 

 and hereafter my papers on dimorphic and trimorphic plants, 

 together with some additional observations on allied points 

 which I never have had time to arrange. My strength will 

 then probably be exhausted, and I shall be ready to exclaim 

 " Nunc dimittis." 



Written May ist, 1881.—' The Effects of Cross and Self- 

 Fertilisation ' was published in the autumn of 1876 ; and the 

 results there arrived at explain, as I believe, the endless and 

 wonderful contrivances for the transportal of pollen from one 

 plant to another of the same species. I now believe, however, 

 chiefly from the observations of Hermann Miiller, that I ought 

 to have insisted more strongly than I did on the many adapta- 

 tions for self-fertilisation ; though I was well aware of many 

 such adaptations. A much enlarged edition of my ' Fertilisa- 

 tion of Orchids' was published in 1877. 



In this same year 'The Different Forms of Flowers, &c.,' 

 appeared, and in 1880 a second edition. This book consists 

 chiefly of the several papers on Heterostyled flowers originally 

 published by the Linnean Society, corrected, with much new 

 matter added, together with observations on some other cases 

 in which the same plant bears two kinds of flowers. As be- 

 fore remarked, no little discovery of mine ever gave me so 

 much pleasure as the making out the meaning of heterostyled 

 flowers. The results of crossing such flowers in an illegiti- 

 mate manner, I believe to be very important, as bearing on 

 the sterility of hybrids ; although these results have been 

 noticed by only a few persons. 



In 1879, I na cl a translation of Dr. Ernst Krause's ' Life of 

 Erasmus Darwin ' published, and I added a sketch of his 

 character and habits from material in my possession. Many 

 persons have been much interested by this little life, and I 

 am surprised that only 800 or 900 copies were sold. 



In 1880 I published, with [my son] Frank's assistance, our 



