Trifolinm Pratcnsc Quinque folium. 55 
the leaves of which were 7-foliate. At the same time 
there were still "atavists" in the seventh generation the 
apex of whose curve was over 3 leaflets. The atavists 
however really belong to their race as is shown by the 
fact that even after repeated selection in an atavistic 
direction they produce far more quadri foliate leaves than 
the normal red clover (or more exactly, the corresponding- 
wild half race of the red clover). 
The better the seeds are fed on the parent plant the 
greater is the development of the anomaly on the indi- 
viduals produced by them. Poor seeds give rise to ata- 
vists, good ones to extreme variants. 
My experiment extends over ten generations. It 
gives no support to the view that the five-leaved race 
was, so to speak, caught in the act of developing its 
character, or that it could give rise to a higher type with- 
out further mutation. It is a highly variable, but constant 
variety. 
