MASTERS' BOOK ON VEGETABLE TERATOLOGY. 



155 



their antagonists and widening their influence on all branches of bio- 

 logical research. Masters warmly sympathized with them. He never 

 allowed himself to digress upon the purely theoretical side of his deduc- 

 tions from the collected facts, but was content with simply hinting at it. 

 For the student in evolution these hints are most valuable ; they clearly 

 show that Masters was well aware of the significance of his facts and 

 knew how to utilize them for the solution of great problems. We have 

 only to follow his indications and to work them out in order to find the 

 support teratology gives to the doctrine of evolution. I may here quote 

 the concluding sentence of the book, which clearly shows the principles 

 by which the author was guided. He says : — 



" That monstrosities so called may become the starting points of new 

 forms is proved by the circumstance that, in many cases, the peculiarities 

 are inherited, so that a new race is produced and perpetuated, and if a 

 new race, why not a new species f The difference is only one of degree " 

 (p. 490). 



His "Vegetable Teratology" is the greatest work of his life. When 

 still a young man he commenced collecting the material and compiling the 

 literature of the subject. He did so at the suggestion of his friend. James 

 Salter. From 1855 to 1868 he was Botanical Lecturer at St. George's 

 Hospital and for some years was Examiner in Botany at the University of 

 London. It is especially during this time that he prepared his great 

 work. At the age of twenty-four years (1857) he published his first 

 contribution to the science of teratology in the " Phytologist " (Vol. II.) 

 It was succeeded by numerous articles on the same subject in various 

 publications. The material rapidly increased and enabled him to give 

 " An account of the principal deviations from the usual construction of 

 plants," as the second title of his book expresses it. It was a collection 

 of facts, rather than the propounding of a theory, and met with universal 

 acceptance. It is still unsurpassed and even the appearance of the work of 

 Penzig could not make it superfluous. Penzig's book is on a systematic 

 basis, whereas Masters' followed a morphological scheme. 



Shortly before finishing his classic work, in November 1865, Dr. 

 Masters became Associate Editor of the " Gardeners' Chronicle." From 

 that moment he gave all his time and all his energy to this Journal and 

 everyone knows how the influence of his mind, character and ability has 

 been stamped upon its pages. His book was soon out of print, but it was 

 impossible for him to prepare a new edition. The pages of the " Chronicle " 

 were full of contributions to his beloved science, but he found himself 

 constrained to leave their application to another. This task has been 

 taken up by a German botanist. Udo Damnier prepared and published a 

 translation of Masters' book, using Masters' later material and aided therein 

 by the author himself. Almost every page of the translation betrays the 

 help of the author, and numerous additions and corrections enhance the 

 importance of the work. Xew pictures from the " Gardeners' Chonicle " 

 give it additional weight. 



The classification of malformations to be adopted in his book was a 

 source of much consideration and trouble to the author. Of course a 

 comparative study of the nature of the causes introducing the several 

 changes would afford the most logical basis. But the material at hand 



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