118 On the requisites necessary 



species, — and although the fact was partially confirmed in a notice 

 in the Magazine of Natural History some time ago, our systematic 

 botanists are not yet convinced of the truth of these results, though 

 it does not appear that they have weakened their authority by any 

 appeal to experiment, the only test which can here be considered 

 admissible. Although it has been shown experimentally, that plants 

 of Anagallis arvensis can be raised from seeds of Anagallis ccerulea, 

 agreeably to the opinion of De Candolle in the Botanicon Gallicum, 

 who considers them mere varieties of the same species, and although 

 nothing satisfactory has been brought forward contradictory of this 

 opinion, the more general feeling appears still to be adverse to their 

 being included under one species. These remarks are not made 

 with the view of inducing those who are sceptical as to the accuracy 

 of these experiments, to change their opinion, but if possible to per- 

 suade them to repeat the experiments and record the results. Other 

 cases might be mentioned where similar experiments have lately 

 been prosecuted on the Continent, and the results obtained have 

 justified the propriety of a reduction of species ; but they have not 

 as yet been conducted on a scale sufficient to warrant any hope of 

 our deducing a general law from them. For the present then, and 

 until some such law is established, we must remain content with 

 limiting our species by those empirical rules which multiplied ob- 

 servation alone affords us, and from the examination of every va- 

 riety that we can lay our hands upon. In their restriction of spe- 

 cies, different botanists are influenced by very opposite considera- 

 tions. — Some prefer multiplying their number to the utmost extent, 

 whilst others, and these form the less numerous class, would reduce 

 nearly all doubtful cases to the rank of varieties. To the opinions 

 of the latter class we are most decidedly favourable, and it is with 

 great satisfaction that we find the following remarks upon this sub- 

 ject in the preface to the excellent Flora of the Indian Peninsula, 

 by Dr Wight and Mr Arnott, * " We shall perhaps be severe- 

 ly censured for cutting down species. We have all along con- 

 sidered it as trifling with nature to separate species on slight or va- 

 riable grounds, nor could we ever understand the ' cui bono' for 

 which so much ingenuity in splitting hairs has been wasted. Be- 

 fore we determined what was a species, we examined with care nu- 

 merous specimens from the same and different localities ; and so far 

 we have had an advantage over many other of the European bota- 

 nists who have described Indian plants, they having only seen one 

 or two isolated specimens. Numerous observations, too, were made 

 on the plants in their natural situation, the result of which went to 



* P. 21. 



