M. MAXIMOWICZ ON THE INFLUENCE OE FOREIGN POLLEN. I67 
two parents ; it varied from ^ to ^ of the breadth of the seed. 
About 50 of the seeds were abortive ; about 70 were well de- 
veloped, of the normal size of the seeds of these species (8 mm. 
long, 5 mm. broad), and supplied with an apparently well de- 
veloped embryo, the characteristic slightly curved, longish, linear 
form of which was readily recognized by transmitted light. 
I would not attach any great importance to the seeds having a 
middle form between that of the two parents, because the sizes 
hardly allow themselves to be expressed with the exactness which 
Lallemant assigns them. The wing of the seed may be bent 
round or compressed towards the border ; and in measuring the 
breadth of the wing this compression cannot be taken into 
account. 
What objections can be advanced against the case which I have 
just related ? I can foresee the following : — 
First of all, some one may say that the whole observation rests 
upon one fundamental error, an interchange, and so forth. The 
circumstantial explanation I have given above, I hope, speaks for 
itself. An obstinate doubter I can only invite to imitate the ex- 
periment, and in the event of its not succeeding, to bear in mind 
that Gaertner was unsuccessful in confirming the observations of 
Pavis, while Savi, Hildebrand, and others succeeded. I should 
like to invite all who are interested to repeat my experiments, 
since probably by that means the second objection might be 
weakened — namely, that this is a solitary case, which proves 
nothing, and that it is an accidental sportive variation. Other 
researches will probably prevent me following further observations 
of this kind myself 
The weightiest objection would be this, that the L. hulbiferum 
with which I experimented was already itself a hybrid, that this 
was the explanation of its fertilization by one of its parents turn- 
ing out so successfully, and that it probably independently of this 
possessed [owing to its hybrid origin] the capsule which is peculiar 
to L. davuricum. 
That this is probable I have already shown in describing the 
bulbs ; and I do not know what form its capsule would have had 
if it had been fertilized with its own pollen or that of a genuine 
individual, inasmuch as the capsule which I obtained through the 
crossing described is the only one belonging to it with which I 
am acquainted*. 
* [The only example of the fruit of L. hulhiferum in the Kew Herbarium is 
s 2 
