By the Hon. and Rev. William Herbert. 1? 



distinct from the commencement of the world ; nor, if I did 

 succeed in procuring it, that they must not at present rank 

 as distinct species of vegetables ; I should merely think, as 

 the Botanist would probably have already decided, that they 

 were referable to one genus, or family. I apprehend the 

 whole mystery to be this ; that, in the progress of the disten- 

 sion of genera into various species, some species have re- 

 tained such affinity as to admit of easy artificial intermixture ; 

 others have preserved so little affinity as to render their 

 union more difficult ; and others have departed so widely 

 from their prototype, that the art of man cannot now recon- 

 cile them, and that, to bring them together again, it would 

 be necessary to tread back or reverse the process of the cen- 

 turies that have worked their difference. To which may be 

 added, that in some plants the variation may be striking in 

 many external appearances, and yet less considerable in the 

 parts of fructification than in other species, of which the leaf 

 or corolla may be more similar. If it be admitted, that 

 diversity of species could have been produced by variations 

 of soil, temperature, or humidity, it will be readily under- 

 stood that such diversity might have been further multiplied 

 by hybrid intermixture, as the species were brought together 

 by the natural progress of their diffusion. 



Mr. Knight has raised fertile Strawberries from the mix- 

 ture of the Chili, the Carolina, and the Scarlet Strawberries, 

 which some persons had deemed to be distinct. But this 

 division was probably erroneous, for we find that they will 

 intermingle naturally, and become confounded by seminal 

 variations, without any artificial impregnation, and there- 

 fore it was a pretty clear case that they had been improperly 



