No. 431.] STAGES IN PLANT GROWTH. 875 
Coupled with a knowledge of the seedlings and of ancestral 
forms these localized stages may be used to great advantage in 
determining not only the phylogeny in a broad way, but the 
relations, especially to plants in the same genus or family. 
By comparing the character of the stages repeated and the 
acceleration with which they are gone through with, something 
may be learned of the position of the species in relation to 
others within the genus, according to the general principle that 
greater acceleration of development means a higher form. 
Comparison of seedlings of different species may also deter- 
mine this to a considerable extent, but many seedlings of each 
species should be compared to get the relation of the variation. 
Thus from the seedlings of various species of Aquilegia raised 
and compared, a definite relation was noticed in regard to the 
relative difference in time of appearance of the same stage in 
different species. In this way localized stages, together with 
a comparative study of seedlings, may be made to yield profit- 
able results in a field where there is otherwise very little data 
to depend on. 
