No. 494] FASC1ATIONS OF KNOWN CAUSATION 97 



or makes its appearance for the first time, 57 numerous 

 experiments should be undertaken with a view of elimi- 

 nating " chance" through large numbers. Whether the 

 seed of a bean in which a fasciated root has been pro- 

 duced artificially, gives rise to a fasciated plant, is an 

 experiment worth trying. Likewise, it is an open question 

 whether the seed borne on normal stems of a pansy in 

 the main stem of which fasciation has been induced 

 through crushing, will give rise to fasciated individuals. 

 The spores of the Boston fern, Nephrolepis exaltata bos- 

 toniensis, give rise to plants the majority of which ex- 

 hibit the peculiar cristate leaves. Yet here and there on 

 the fronds sometimes will be found non-cristate leaflets. 

 Will the spores borne on the latter give rise to the cristate 

 form? These are experiments which any one with a 

 little space and time at his command and a penchant for 

 gardening, can readily undertake. To such, no small 

 hope of reward is held out in a recent paper by Blarig- 

 hem, 58 who, as a result of mutilation, obtained entirely 

 new and constant varieties. 



