Transplantation of Ovaries in Chickens 569 



such was not the case. In the offspring from B^, in which the 

 male and foster mother were black, black predominated but 

 white occurred. This must have come through the white ovary. 

 In the offspring from fV^^ in which the male and foster mother 

 were white, white was the predominating color but black 

 occurred. The black therefore must have come through the 

 black ovary." 



If we accept the statement that in ordinary crossing of black 

 and white breeds, the white is dominant, then we may assume that 

 the same is not true for this kind of (female) crossing, or that 

 the original color influence was more strongly preserved in the 

 black than in the white ovary. From the constancy of the results 

 in the above two hens, we may conclude that the ovaries trans- 

 planted into the other two hens, B^ and W^, were the ones func- 

 tioning during the laying season also. 



2 T he foster mother exerted an influence on the color of the off- 

 spring. Take hens B2 and ^3 (Fig. 3). These hens were bred 

 to the rooster of the opposite color, i. e., of the color of the trans- 

 planted ovary. Yet in the former the majority, and in the latter 

 all of the offspring were spotted, i. e., white with black spots on 

 the dorsal surfaces. In B^^ the male and ovary were white and 

 the foster mother black; in ^3, the male and ovary were black 

 and the foster mother white. In both cases white predominated 

 in the oflFspring. It would seem therefore, if we leave the question 

 of dominance out of account, that the foster influence of the white 

 hen was stronger than of the black hen. If on the other hand we 

 consider the foster influence equal in both cases, then we can 

 explain the results as due to the dominance of the white in the 

 male or ovary. 



The Character of Feather Markings 



In the white offspring, black spots occurred on the back, neck, 

 head, shoulders, wings and tail in frequency in about the order 

 given. In size they ranged from a few barbules on one feather 

 to a patch of feathers the size of a dime. The larger spots were 



" It is interesting to note the difference in the distribution of the ovarian color in these two cases. 



