646 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIX 



In a paper entitled "Change by Gradual Modification not the 

 Universal Law," 1 he begins as follows: 



Natura non facit saltum has been accepted as a grand canon by most 



fatal to theories of evolution. My studies in plant life lead me to the 

 belief that one form will spring from another essentially different, and 

 without any gradual or insensible modifications uniting them. 



He then describes a variation in Halesia tetrapterar The new 

 form had undergone a change in leaf shape and the veins were 

 rugose. The flowers, instead of having a narrow tube at the base, 

 were open, cup-shaped, the pistil wholly enclosed and hot ex- 

 serted. This form produced good seeds and if found wild would 

 be considered a new species/' He then refers to a variation in 

 Yucca filamentosa. One plant in hundreds threw out a more 

 branching panicle which opened two weeks earlier. Its charac- 

 ters remained and were continued in the progeny. After citing 

 other cases, Meehan says : 



Not only do strikingly distinct forms come suddenly into existence but 

 once bom they reproduce themselves from seed, and act in every respect 

 as acknowledged species. 



He states that a "weeping" variety of the peach came into 

 existence "about 30 years ago," and also "ten years ago a deep 

 blood-leaved variety appeared." The following quotations from 

 the same paper will serve further to illustrate his views : 



modification, but always by one great leap. The flight changes are 

 in the forward leap ? 



from their parents, and can reproduce themselves from seed, but they 

 in widely separated localities, and not all necessarily by seed from one 



Flowers of Viola pedata were sent to him from five localities 



