The above seeds were placed on sand, and after germinating were planted in pairs on the opposite sides of four pots; and all the remaining seeds were thickly sown on the two sides of a fifth large pot. The result was surprising, for the self-fertilised seedlings very early in life beat the crossed, and at one time were nearly double their height. At first the case appeared like that of Mimulus, in which after the third generation a tall and highly self-fertile variety appeared. But as in the two succeeding generations the crossed plants resumed their former superiority over the self-fertilised, the case must be looked at as an anomaly. The sole conjecture which I can form is that the crossed seeds had not been sufficiently ripened, and thus produced weakly plants, as occurred with Iberis. When the crossed plants were between 3 and 4 inches in height, the six finest in four of the pots were measured to the summits of their stems, and at the same time the six finest of the self-fertilised plants. The measurements are given in Table 6/78, and it may be here seen that all the self-fertilised plants exceed their opponents in height, whereas when subsequently measured the excess of the self-fertilised depended chiefly on the unusual tallness of two of the plants in Pot 2. The crossed plants here average 3.27, and the self-fertilised 6.08 inches in height; or as 100 to 186. When fully grown they were again measured, as follows:-- TABLE 6/79. Petunia violacea (third generation; plants fully grown). Heights of plants measured in inches. Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot. Column 2: Crossed Plants. Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants. Pot 1 : 41 4/8 : 40 6/8. Pot 1 : 48 : 39. Pot 1 : 36 : 48. Pot 2 : 36 : 47. Pot 2 : 21 : 80 2/8. Pot 2 : 36 2/8 : 86 2/8. Pot 3 : 52 : 46. Pot 4 : 57 : 43 6/8. Total : 327.75 : 431.00. The eight crossed plants now averaged 40.96, and the eight self-fertilised plants 53.87 inches in height, or as 100 to 131; and this excess chiefly depended, as already stated, on the unusual tallness of two of the self-fertilised plants in Pot 2. The self-fertilised had therefore lost some of their former great superiority over the crossed plants. In three of the pots the self-fertilised plants flowered first; but in Pot 3 at the same time with the crossed.