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REPORT ON THE 



like this. There is no mention of it whatever in Turner's " New 

 Herball " (1548), but by 1563 the yellow Auricula was widely 

 spread in cultivation and well known. Forty years later, in 

 the time of De l'Obel, it had put on a large amount of variation 

 in its flowers. The principal Alpine species were well known, 

 thoroughly characterized, and well figured before the end of 

 the sixteenth century ; so that I think that florists are not to 

 be trusted entirely to decide these matters without having 

 botanists to look after them. I think that this Exhibition will 

 furnish us with an exceedingly good opportunity of fully 

 settling the question that Mr. Hibberd puts, but to which he 

 does not really give us any definite answer. Two theories have 

 been propounded. One is Kerner's theory of the matter, and 

 the other is my own. Mr. Hibberd seems to doubt whether 

 these Alpine Primulas are hybridized to any large extent ; but 

 look at the way in which the common Cowslip and the 

 Primrose hybridize. You cannot go into any field in the 

 north of England without seeing that they do hybridize most 

 fully. Now, Kerner, of all men, has investigated this question 

 most fully. He is the greatest authority on this subject. 

 He is well qualified to speak for himself, and we are fortunate 

 in having the presence here to-day of the Englishman, 

 Mr. Churchill, who knows more about these matters than any 

 other living Englishman — one who knows Kerner's writings most 

 thoroughly, and who has worked over the ground that Kerner has 

 dealt with. It is not for me, when Mr. Churchill is here, to 

 say anything about Kerner, who is the great authority upon the 

 question of hybrid Primulas, and Mr. Churchill is the great 

 English authority upon the botany of the Tyrol ; and I hope he 

 may be induced to give us his opinion on the subject. All I 

 have to do is to say a few words in defence of the theory which 

 I myself brought forward. I have come to this meeting direct, 

 and have as yet had no opportunity of verifying that theory by 

 comparison with the vast mass of material accumulated in the 

 Exhibition below, so that I really do not know any more about 

 the matter than when I wrote a short paper in the Gardener* 

 Chronicle a year ago. I do not accept Mr. Hibberd's version 

 of my theory as a complete one. All that he says is, that I, 

 to a certain extent, endorse Kerner. My theory is, that the great 

 mass of these garden Auriculas originated from the wild species, 



