300 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLVII 



in some cases were entirely replaced by small green 

 leaves — smaller than the sepals — and in other cases they 

 were partially replaced by leafy tissne. A few stamens 

 had their filaments flattened and their anthers replaced 

 by a small green leaf. These changes might be advanced, 

 as an evidence of the evolutionary development of the 

 floral organs, if the theory that these organs are simply 

 modified leaves and that reversions are frequently caused 

 by injuries were not already so well substantiated. 

 Whether any mutations might have occurred in the prog- 

 eny produced from these blossoms is unknown, as fer- 

 tilization of the ovules was not attempted. No partheno- 

 genetic seed was obtained from these injured blossoms, 

 and this might have been expected, since leafy forma- 

 tions in the blossoms are generally accompanied by 

 sterility. 



Effects of Liquid Injections 

 The forcing of liquids into the plants was performed 

 with the same object in view as in the preceding experi- 

 ments, viz., to endeavor to stimulate cell division and 

 thus possibly produce unfertilized seed. To certain 

 liquids has been ascribed the power of being able to cause 

 mutations when injected into the buds of certain plants, 

 but in this experiment all the injections were made 

 directly into stems of plants, eight to twenty inches in 

 height. 



The apparatus used was simple. Glass capillary tubes 

 were connected by rubber tubing to glass tubes, about 

 30 inches long and about one quarter inch in diameter, 

 which contained the liquids. The rubber tubing permit- 

 ted the stems to lengthen without disturbing the opera- 

 tions. The end of the capillary tube was inserted from 

 one eighth inch to one quarter inch into the stem, the dis- 

 tance depending upon the diameter of the stems and 1 

 inch to 15 inches below the terminal bud. An application 

 of collodion held the capillary tube in place and stopped 

 all leakage. After having supported the tube, the pinch- 



