158 Atavism. 
ears (on the 46 first flowerstalks). In the next 100 the 
proportion mounted to 60%, and 3-4 partite inflores- 
cences also occurred. Later on, about the middle of 
July, the first stalks with five lateral ears appeared, and 
the number of branched ears gradually increased to 70%, 
and in August the strongest rosette had 67 ears of which 
52 were branched, i. e., about 78%. 
A question at one time much discussed was whether 
adventitious buds had the power to reproduce the varia- 
tions and anomalies of the parent plant. At that time 
malformations were not regarded as heritable, but since 
the inheritance of monstrosities has become generally 
recognized, 1 it must be considered evident that adven- 
o 
titious buds will behave like normal ones; and the only 
question that can arise is whether they are more liable 
to produce bud-variations or not. If they are weak the 
abnormal character will be less pronounced; but if their 
strength is equal to that of ordinary buds the abnormal 
character must be developed to the same extent. It is 
therefore almost superfluous to lay much stress on the 
reproduction of the branched ears from the radical shoots 
of our plantain. 
The rest of my experiments deal with divided plants. 
In the spring of 1893 I selected for this purpose two fine 
rosettes that had survived the winter and which had 
proved to be particularly rich in branched ears in the 
previous year. Both plants were divided as equally as 
possible into halves. Of the first plants one-half was 
planted in sand and of the other one-half was put in the 
shadow of a tree, the control halves of both plants being 
cultivated under ordinary conditions for the purpose of 
l Erfelyke Monstrositeiten, Kruidkundig Jaarboek, Gent, 1897, 
p. 62. 
