On the Species of the Genus Primula in Essex. 159 
the relative proportions between the two forms ranging 
between 82 and 95 as compared with 100. On seven 
occasions the 1. outnumbered the s. by more than 2 to 1, 
but taking all the observations together we shall see that the 
average proportion in which the s. stand to the 1. is as 76 to 
100, showing that in this species the 1. are proportionately 
far more numerous than in the last; and their majority 
seemed to increase slightly as the season went on. I 
formerly thought, as in the case of the Primrose, that when 
plants grew in the open the 1. were proportionately more 
numerous than when growing under cover; but I must 
admit that the final working out of the results of my observa¬ 
tions does not confirm this. I am therefore at a loss to 
account for the considerable divergence which exists between 
some of the observations, and I have on this account stated 
in each case the sort of situation in which the plants grew, 
that others may draw their own conclusions. It may, how¬ 
ever, be mentioned that in six of the seven cases in which 
the 1. were more than twice as numerous as the s. the flowers 
were all gathered in the open; but against this stand Obs. 
Nos. 9 and 80, in which the 1. were almost exactly or quite 
twice as numerous as the s., yet the flowers grew in a dense 
wood. One thing, however, I think, these results do show, 
and that is that when under 11 stimulation " 19 the long-styledplants 
have a great tendency to be the finest. For instance, of 7 
abnormally large umbels selected out of Obs. 14 no less than 
6 were long-styled; 3 similar umbels in Obs. 15 were all 
long-styled; in Obs. 16, when I intentionally gathered 33 of 
the finest umbels I could see growing in the open, the s. 
stood to the 1. in the proportion of 37 to 100 (the largest 
majority I ever obtained); and of 11 abnormally large 
umbels no less than 8 were long-styled. In Obs. 21, 
when I gathered 76 of the finest umbels I could see growing 
in the open, the s. stood to the 1. in the proportion of 46 to 100; 
and of 6 abnormally large umbels selected out of these, 4 
19 1 shall afterwards explain that by “ stimulation” I mean a greatly 
increased vigour of growth resulting from the access of heat and sunlight 
to the plants after the cutting down of a wood. 
