—68— 



tion through a long period of time, one of the principal 

 distinctions between species was thought to exist in the 

 fact that true species are not connected with others by 

 intergrading forms. DeVries, however, has shown that 

 a plant may give rise to offspring that are quite unlike it 

 and not connected to it by intergrades, and that these 

 may perpetuate themselves by seed. We can scarcely 

 consider these distinct species, however, nor does De- 

 Vries so consider them, for he calls them elementary 

 species, to distinguish them from the real or systematic 

 species. The number of these elementary species in cer- 

 tain plants seems almost limitless. In the little whitlow 

 grass (Draba verna) they already number more than two 

 hundred, and we suspect that many of the recently de- 

 scribed hawthorns, violets, and selaginellas belong to a 

 similar category. It is of prime importance, then, in con- 

 sidering a new form, to decide whether it differs from 

 the nearest related form sufficiently to be a distinct spe- 

 cies. It is not sufficient that the two are not connected 

 by intergrades, nor that the two do not look alike. There 

 should be an essential difference. The various forms of 

 the field horsetail do not look alike, but no one has yet 

 had the hardihood to suggest that they are separate 

 species. 



On this point Dr. B. L. Robinson's observations are of 

 interest. " It is easy to see," he remarks, " that species 

 as now recorded in literature are by no means alike, and 

 that they cannot be regarded as equivalents in any com- 

 plete system of classification. Curiously enough, how- 

 ever, the term ' species ' seems to be growing more and 

 more popular as it means less and less. How anxiously 

 most discoverers of new forms are that their plants may 

 prove species, not mere varieties, and finally what a fas- 

 cination the mere binomial appears to exert upon certain 

 minds ! " To elevate mere varieties to specific rank may 

 result in a little temporary glory, but another generation, 

 with no personal feeling in the matter, will certainly re- 

 duce them to the position they deserve. Therefore, we 

 may as well correctly name each form in the beginning, 



