30 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
My other species originated in the same manner, suddenly and 
without transitions. We may therefore assume that species, 
when growing wild, do not appear gradually, slowly adapting 
them.selves to existing conditions, but suddenly, entirely inde- 
pendent of their surroundings. Species are not arbitrary groups, 
as Bailey, and with him many others, believed should be deduced 
from the theory of descent, but sharply defined types, unmistak- 
able, for one who has once seen them. 
Each species is an individual, says Gillot, having a birth, a 
lease of life,, and an inevitable death. From the moment of birth 
until the time of death, it remains the same. Only when taking 
this point of view can we reconcile our daily experience of the 
constancy of species with the theory of descent. This is fully 
confirmed by the results of my experiments. 
If species originated gradually, in the course of centuries, their 
birth could never be observed. Were it so, this most interesting 
phenomenon would forever remain hidden from us. Happily it 
is not so. Each species as soon as born takes its place as peer in 
the ranks of the older species. This birth may be directly ob- 
served. One can even collect the seeds in which the new types 
are hidden, and one can observe the first steps in the develop- 
ment of these types. Literally the new species originates at the 
time of the formation of the seed, but it is born only at the time 
of germination. But at this period it is not recognizable as such ; 
this only becomes possible after the first leaves have unfolded. 
The plant can then be photographed, and in this manner we may 
preserve the type as soon as it becomes discernible and recogniz- 
able. In fact, one can study the birth of a species as readily as 
that of any individual, be it plant or animal. 
Any advance in our knowledge depends on the possibility of 
seeing species originate. Of course this does not refer to present 
species. Such a thing would be as impossible, as absurd, as ex- 
pecting to witness the birth of an individual already inhabiting 
the earth. The species living at present are too old. But they 
may give rise to new ones. There seems to be sufficient reason 
for suspecting that this is happening at this very moment, and in 
our immediate surroundings, only we are not aware of it. SucH 
cases must therefore be searched for with great care and patience. 
