No. 494] FASCIATIONS OF KNOWN CAUSATION 87 



It is but natural to suppose that if accidental mechanical 

 injury can produce abnormalities, the same can be pro- 

 duced experimentally through similar action. Again, 

 numerous cases are on record. The first instance known 

 is probably the experiment of Sachs, :! " who, amputating 

 the main stem of bean seedlings just above the cotyledons, 

 was able to bring about fasciation of the shoots produced 

 from the buds in the axils of the cotyledons. A fasciation 

 of Ibervillea sonorce at the New York Botanical Garden, 

 referred to in Torreya? 1 is understood to have been arti- 

 ficially caused by intentional slight injury of the growing 

 tip. Blarighem 32 w T as able to cause fasciation of shoots of 

 Viola tricolor var. maxima by crushing the young steins. 

 Lopriore, 33 incited by the experiments of Sachs, cut the 

 root tips of seedlings of Vicia Faba and obtained fasciated 

 roots in a large number of cases, as well as malformations 

 of other parts of the plant. 



But apparently a fasciation is not necessarily a conse- 

 quence of mutilation. Goebel 34 mentions fasciations in 

 suckers and watersprouts. These are so common that 

 they probably have come within every one's notice. Fas- 

 ciations also frequently occur in plants the seedlings of 

 which were abnormal in having a larger number of coty- 

 ledons than usual. 35 It has been shown 36 that under 

 proper conditions of moisture and food, plants will fre- 

 quently fasciate, though adjacent plants may remain nor- 

 mal. Such cases have generally been ascribed to peculiar 

 conditions of nutrition. 



"Lopriore, G. Verbaii<l<>nmjr Lnfolge des K.ipfens. Ber. d. d. Bot. Ges., 

 22 : 304, 1904. 



"Goebel, K. Ortfanoyraplue tier Pflanzen, 164, 1898-1901. 

 55 Be Vries, Hugo. Kine Metho.U\ Zwan^lrohungen aufzusuchen. Ber. 

 d. d. Bot. Ges., 12* : 25, 1894. 



