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purpurea). He, however, uses the suspicions words, “ il est 
extremement peu probable ” that the hybrid parent had received 
pollen from either specimen of the two species. 
In 1855 he had ninety-six plants of Batura Tatula -f Stra- 
monium and twenty-four of Stramonium + Tatula. They were 
manifestly intermediate, . but slightly in favour of B. Tatula. 
All being very fertile, a space of twenty feet was sown with 
their seed, which entirely reverted to the type of B. Tatula. Our 
author felt certain that the hybrids were not fertilized by 
pollen of the parent form, for he says, “ The bed in which the 
hybrids were in 1855, contained a good number of B. Stra- 
monium , of which the pollen ought to have intervened in fecun- 
dizing their flowers, a thing which manifestly did not take 
place.” But he goes on to speak of the prepotency of B. 
Tatula. Now if he admits this, we do not quite see the 
grounds for such certainty; for it is not unreasonable to 
assume the hybrid stigmas even to have been charged with 
pollen of B. Stramonium ; but yet if that of B. Tatula were 
prepotent, it might subsequently completely set aside the 
previous attempts at impregnation, for such is quite in ac- 
cordance with other cases. For example. Dean Herbert 
mentions the following most remarkable instance : — 
In the genus Hippeastrum he says : * “ Although hybrids 
are capable of bearing seed by their own pollen, the admission 
of the pollen of another cross-bred plant of the same genus 
(however complicated the cross) to any one flower of the 
umbel is almost sure to check the fructification of the others.” 
He describes how he fertilized three flowers of two two- 
flowered umbels, from a bulb of H. Organense , brought fresh 
from the Organ Mountains, with its own pollen, one flower 
only being dusted with pollen of H. bulbulosum (var. pulveru- 
lentum ) + regince — vittatum. After three days the first three 
ovaries ceased to swell and perished altogether, while the 
fourth made vigorous and rapid progress to maturity, and bore 
good seed, which vegetated freely ! 
We give the above example to show that the assumption 
we have made with regard to B. Tatula is quite within the 
bounds of possibility, if not of probability. 
Now, in these experiments, as also in the case of Linaria 
purpurea-vulgaris , in which most decided reversions appear 
to have taken place, the fact that they were not protected 
from insect agency, renders their value less than that which 
they would have had if more precaution had been taken. 
Moreover, M. Naudin's experiments were conducted with gar- 
den or cultivated plants. Here, too, we think, was a great mis- 
* Jov/rmlof Royal Horticultural Society, 1847. Vol. II. Part I. p. 19. 
