After the full account of the want of sterility in hybrids, which appeared in the Independent some months ago, nothing further is, perhaps, deemed necessary; and yet it may be useful to place on record any remarkable cases as they arise. It was stated in that account, that among gesneraceous plants, our conservatories teemed with cases of fertile hybrids, not only between very distinct species, but also between genera. Another very striking illustration of this has recently been introduced, the work of a German florist. It is a hybrid between Gesneria Donckelaari, and one of the common greenhouse gloxinias. It will not, for an instant, be contended, that, under the strictest idea of genera, these are not wholly distinct. But the genera have not only been made to unite, but the hybrid produces seeds freely, and seedlings reproduce the hybrid parent exactly. The florists have named it Gloxinia gesneroides; and the fertile seed is put into the market as a regular item of commerce. Cases like these present considerations the strongest scientific man may well hesitate to grapple with. First, the idea of genera as something distinct from species becomes confused.

The florists have turned the plant into Gloxinia; but it would be difficult to say just how much is Gloxinia, and how much Gesneria. Second, there is no more reason why a plant of a Gloxinia, in a state of nature, may not get the pollen of a Gesneria through the agency of an insect, or some accident. If the seed get the chance to grow, we have such a hybrid as this. If the hybrid get the chance to raise its seeds, and the seedlings proved as constant as these have so far proved, we have in nature a very distinct species that did not exist before - a new species originated by hybridization. It is not only not impossible, but highly probable, that such instances have occurred, because everything is favorable for just such a conjunction of circumstances. It is perfectly safe to conclude not only that there is a continual creation of species, but that hybridization is one of the agencies through which the new forms are introduced. - Independent.