Experimental Studies in the Physiology of Heredity 



W. BATESON and R. C. PUNNETT 



Reprinted from Reports to the Evolution Com- 

 mittee of the Royal Society, Reports 2, 3, and 4, 

 1905-08. 



One of the first questiojjs to arise from a study of Mender s experi- 

 ments 071 peas is whether or not the demo7istrated indepe?idence of 

 i?jheritance always holds true, hi the series of experimejjts described 

 i?i these papers Bateson a?id Pimnett show that neither the inherited 

 particles (which we now kfjow as genes) nor the characteristic ex- 

 pressions of these particles always show independence. These papers 

 are the first of a long and contmiiing series that show the geneticist 

 how to derive informatio77 about the actio?Js of the genes through 

 careful study of the ki?ids and proportions of the phenotype, that 

 is, the visible expressio?i of the gene action iji the characteristics of 

 the organism. 



Bateson and Pimnett experienced great difficidty in the analysis of 

 their experimental residts. For one familiar with the work, the inter- 

 pretation is obvious, but it must be remejnbered that these men were 

 pioiieers in virgin territory. In each of their reports it will be easier 

 to understand just what has taken place by ignoring the conclusions 

 the authors draw, and investigatiiig the experimeiital residts. The 

 data themselves show the way to the reader, and atte?npts to follow 

 the authors'' lead result i?i confusion and misijiterpretation. It is not a 

 common occurrence to fi^id that an experiment points the way, but 

 the author does 7Wt follow the arrow. It does soinetimes happen, 

 however, ajid shoidd always be looked for by a reader. One cannot 

 challe?ige an authors data except through repetition of his experi- 

 ments, but his conclusions are always subject to the tests of analysis 

 a?id logic. 



In the analysis of the combs cf poultry, Batesoji and Fimnett use a 

 termmology entirely their own: It is not unusual to have several 

 symbolic systems during the early development of a field, with all 

 but one eventually dropped. This particular experiment, with con- 

 ventional syjnbols, has been used in many if not all genetics texts, 

 but will be ufifamiliar to almost everyone iji Bateson and Puiinetfs 

 language. 0?ie of the challenges in reading the original literature, 

 however, lies in the fact that no one but the original author is placing 

 an interpretatio?! on the inaterial. 



The poultry paper is important in that it demonstrates the inde- 



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