Lewes,[221] the other by Professor Delpino of Florence.[222] The latter gentleman gives a report of an observation made by him upon a certain plant, which observation adds force to what has just been said about the Jewish race.

He says:[223] "If we examine and compare the numerous species of the genus _Salvia_, commencing with _Salvia officinalis_, which may pass as the main state of the genus, and {213} concluding with _Salvia verticillata_, which may be taken as the most highly developed form, and as the most distant from the type, we observe a singular phenomenon.

The lower cell of each of the two fertile anthers, which is much reduced and different from the superior even in _Salvia officinalis_, is transmuted in other _salviae_ into an organ (nectarotheca) having a very different form and function, and finally disappears entirely in _Salvia verticillata_.
"Now, on one occasion, in a flower belonging to an individual of _Salvia verticillata_, and only on the left stamen, I observed a perfectly developed and pollinigerous lower cell, perfectly homologous with that which is normally developed in _Salvia officinalis_.

This case of atavism is truly singular.

According to the theory of Pangenesis, it is necessary to assume that all the gemmules of this anomalous formation, and therefore the mother-gemmule of the cell, and the daughter-gemmules of the special epidermic tissue, and of the very singular subjacent tissue of the endothecium, have been perpetuated, and transmitted from parent to offspring in a dormant state, and through a number of generations, such as startles the imagination, and leads it to refuse its consent to the theory of Pangenesis, however seductive it may be." This seems a strong confirmation of what has been here advanced.
The main objection raised against Mr.Darwin's hypothesis is that it (Pangenesis) requires so many subordinate hypotheses for its support, and that some of these are not tenable.
Professor Delpino considers[224] that as many as eight of these subordinate hypotheses are required, namely, that-- "1.