Trifoliniii Prafciisc Oiiinqiicfoliinn. 55 



the leaves of wliich 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 reallv belon<>- to their race as is shown bv 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 

 varietv. 



