﻿Monstrosities 
  413 
  

  

  est 
  fasciated 
  stems. 
  It 
  strengthens 
  our 
  conclu- 
  

   sion 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  innermost 
  constitution 
  of 
  the 
  

   double 
  races 
  or 
  ever-sporting 
  varieties. 
  

  

  Twisted 
  stems 
  and 
  fasciations 
  are 
  very 
  strik- 
  

   ing 
  monstrosities. 
  But 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  very 
  good 
  

   for 
  further 
  investigation. 
  They 
  require 
  too 
  

   much 
  space 
  and 
  too 
  much 
  care. 
  The 
  calculation 
  

   of 
  a 
  single 
  percentage 
  requires 
  the 
  counting 
  of 
  

   some 
  hundreds 
  of 
  individuals, 
  taking 
  many 
  

   square 
  meters 
  for 
  their 
  cultivation, 
  and 
  this, 
  as 
  

   my 
  best 
  races 
  are 
  biennial, 
  during 
  two 
  years. 
  

   For 
  this 
  reason 
  the 
  countings 
  must 
  always 
  be 
  

   very 
  limited, 
  and 
  selection 
  is 
  restrained 
  to 
  the 
  

   most 
  perfect 
  specimens. 
  

  

  Hence 
  the 
  question 
  arises, 
  whether 
  this 
  mark 
  

   is 
  the 
  one 
  upon 
  which 
  to 
  found 
  selection. 
  This 
  

   seems 
  to 
  be 
  quite 
  doubtful. 
  In 
  the 
  described 
  

   experiments 
  on 
  the 
  heredity 
  of 
  the 
  atavists, 
  we 
  

   have 
  seen 
  that 
  it 
  is, 
  at 
  least 
  often, 
  in 
  no 
  manner 
  

   inferior 
  to 
  even 
  the 
  best 
  inheritors 
  of 
  the 
  race. 
  

   This 
  suggests 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  certain 
  

   that 
  the 
  visible 
  characters 
  of 
  a 
  given 
  individual 
  

   are 
  a 
  trustworthy 
  measure 
  of 
  its 
  value 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  

   transmission 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  character 
  to 
  the 
  off- 
  

   spring. 
  In 
  other 
  words, 
  we 
  are 
  confronted 
  with 
  

   the 
  existence 
  of 
  two 
  widely 
  different 
  groups 
  of 
  

   characters 
  in 
  estimating 
  the 
  hereditary 
  tend- 
  

   ency. 
  One 
  is 
  the 
  visible 
  quality 
  of 
  the 
  indi- 
  

   viduals 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  the 
  direct 
  observation 
  

  

  