﻿Production 
  of 
  Double 
  Flowers 
  497 
  

  

  A 
  far 
  more 
  important 
  principle 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   hereditary 
  percentage, 
  already 
  discussed 
  in 
  our 
  

   lecture 
  on 
  the 
  selection 
  of 
  monstrosities. 
  In 
  

   our 
  present 
  case 
  it 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  applied 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  

   six 
  selected 
  plants 
  of 
  1895. 
  To 
  this 
  end 
  the 
  seeds 
  

   of 
  each 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  sown 
  separately, 
  the 
  ray- 
  

   florets 
  of 
  the 
  terminal 
  heads 
  of 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  

   new 
  generation 
  were 
  counted, 
  and 
  curves 
  and 
  

   averages 
  were 
  made 
  up 
  for 
  the 
  six 
  groups. 
  

   Five 
  of 
  them 
  gave 
  proof 
  of 
  still 
  being 
  mixtures 
  

   and 
  were 
  wholly 
  rejected. 
  The 
  children 
  of 
  the 
  

   sixth 
  parent, 
  however, 
  formed 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  uni- 
  

   form 
  constitution, 
  all 
  fluctuating 
  around 
  the 
  de- 
  

   sired 
  average 
  of 
  21. 
  All 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  terminal 
  

   heads 
  of 
  over 
  1500 
  plants 
  have 
  been 
  subjected 
  

   to 
  the 
  somewhat 
  tedious 
  work 
  of 
  counting 
  their 
  

   ray-florets. 
  And 
  this 
  not 
  in 
  the 
  laboratory, 
  but 
  

   in 
  the 
  garden, 
  without 
  cutting 
  them 
  off. 
  Other- 
  

   wise 
  it 
  would 
  obviously 
  have 
  been 
  impossible 
  to 
  

   recognize 
  the 
  best 
  plants 
  for 
  preservation. 
  I 
  

   chose 
  only 
  two 
  plants 
  which 
  in 
  addition 
  recom- 
  

   mended 
  themselves 
  by 
  the 
  average 
  number 
  of 
  

   rays 
  on 
  their 
  secondary 
  heads, 
  sowed 
  their 
  

   seeds 
  next 
  year 
  separately 
  and 
  compared 
  the 
  

   numerical 
  constitution 
  of 
  their 
  offspring. 
  

   Both 
  groups 
  averaged 
  21 
  and 
  were 
  distributed 
  

   very 
  symmetrically 
  around 
  this 
  mean. 
  This 
  re- 
  

  

  