62 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the glabrous and succulent conditions of maritime plants. I have 

 taken the seed of Plantago Coronopus, a hairy xerophyte, and by 

 watering the young seedlings with salt and water till they arrived at 

 the flowering and fruiting stages, they became identical with the 

 maritime variety in every respect, as in the reduction of leaf-lobes, 

 elongation to a strap-shape, loss of hair, shortness of the flowering 

 spike, &c. This variety is not recorded in our floras. 



Besides morphological changes in the " Organs," the whole internal 

 anatomy is changed. Ex uno disce omnes. 



Professor Bateson remarks that " This is no time for devising 

 theories of evolution." On the other hand, though Darwin called 

 " The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection " " his theory " 

 — one which has never been proved scientifically to be true — the origin 

 by self-adaptation through response to changed conditions of life is 

 no " theory " at all, but is simply based on innumerable facts. 



With regard to pollination, of course necessary in crossing, as the 

 supposed origin of species by Dr. Lotsy, one important fact, seemingly 

 overlooked by both Professor Bateson and Dr. Lotsy, is that 

 varieties may arise without any crossing by pollen at all. 



Professor Bateson states that " We reach the essential principle 

 that an organism cannot pass on to offspring a factor which it did not 

 itself receive in fertilization." 



Similarly Dr. Lotsy says: " A homozygote is absolutely stable and 

 produces offspring which is genetically identical with it — with the 

 exception of mere temporary non-transmittable modifications." 



Many plants, however, both cultivated and wild, have produced 

 varieties so recognized by Bentham and Hooker, which are the result, 

 not of crossing, but of different external conditions. Thus, Mr. 

 Bentham recognizes as varieties, which Hooker regards as species, 

 " forms " of Ranunculus aquatilis ; while of Polygonum aviculare 

 Hooker has varieties which Bentham does not allude to. This, 

 moreover, is a good example of self-fertilization, the following 

 being Hooker's descriptions : " Polygonum aviculare, proper, leaves 

 rather thin, fruit dull, included. Var. P. litorale, leaves rather 

 fleshy, fruit more shining, tip exserted, littoral, the passage to sp. 

 P. maritimum; . . . var. arenaslrum, a sand-loving prostrate one ; var. 

 microspermum, a small fruited one ; and var. rurivagum, a wayside 

 one, with narrow, very acute leaves." I have italicized the English 

 words which indicate the characters corresponding to the nature of 

 the localities. These characters could have been pretty well foretold, 

 if the nature of the localities respectively were known; for the 

 surrounding conditions are the primary causes to which the plant 

 responds. 



This species has a special interest, inasmuch as Mr. Lotsy and 

 Professor Bateson would regard the crossing varieties as the origin 

 of species ; but the knotgrass happens to be perpetually self- 

 fertilizing. 



That self-fertilized plants cannot produce varieties is also disproved 



