192 



REPORT ON THE 



shall endeavour to submit to your consideration matters that are 

 possibly of importance, and that, I hope, will at least prove 

 interesting. It will be convenient to dispose of established truths 

 in the first instance in order to obtain a proper basis for specu- 

 lations on things unknown. The origin of the Auricula we will, 

 for the present, assume to be unknown, but we have at command 

 much of a trustworthy character in relation to its history during 



Fig. 1.— CARNIOLIAN PRIMULA, Primula carniolica (Flowers purple or violet). 



the past 300 years, and it will be a safe, even if a dull procedure, 

 to rummage the books and set forth a few of the more promising 

 facts and figures before tackling the portentous question of the 

 origin of the flower. 



