INHERITANCE IN ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION 



197 



groups is shown in table 20. The offspring of the plus selected 

 group have an average number of tentacles 0.093 ±0.035 higher 

 than that of the minus selected group, which as an effect of 

 selection is scarcely significant. It is about what would be 

 expected for a strength of heredity expressed by the parental 

 correlation of 0.01 (table 21). 



Whether this effect of selection proves that the progeny 

 inherit one one-hundredth of the variation of their parents, or 

 is merely the effect of a temporary modification in the vigor 

 of the selected groups may be tested by a comparison of the 

 successive offspring of the last selected generation. Such a 

 comparison shows that the entire difference between the two 

 groups appeared in the first six buds produced. The average 

 number of tentacles of successive buds in the two groups increased 



TABLE 20 



Variations in the number of tentacles of the offspring of the last selected generation 

 of polyps selected for a large and a small number of tentacles 



TABLE 21 



Theoretical effect of selection of parents differing by 1.45 tentacles continued for 

 Fn generations when the strength of inheritance is that indicated by the 

 coefficients of correlation given 



