Tricotylous Races Do Not Arise by Selection. 413 



rectly to the increase of this character, but to a supposed 

 change in the structure of the seeds which would favor 

 the anomaly. Whether or no this supposition is correct 

 I do not know, but it is a fact that the fruits and seeds 

 of my race have gradually become smaller; and that it 

 is the plants producing the largest number of tricotyls 

 which bear the smallest fruits and seeds, I find repeatedly 

 noted in my records. 



At any rate we are here in touch with a principle 

 which may be applicable to other cases also. A selection 

 may produce its effect on an unknown character which in 

 its turn will affect the character actually dealt with. 



With regard to the extent of my culture of 1898 it 

 is further worth remarking that it shows that, in general, 

 the extent of the cultures is by no means so important a 

 factor as is usually supposed. If I had confined myself to 

 experimenting with three or five seed-parents, as for in- 

 stance in Amaranfus in 1897 (p. 406), I should have 

 chosen the best ones according to their hereditary co- 

 efficients ; and it was exactly amongst these that the best 

 of all occurred as the series on page 41 1 shows. Increased 

 extent of the experiment deepens one's insight into the 

 processes involved, but does not hasten the improvement 

 of the race ; although it is never advisable to confine one- 

 self to experimenting with one single seed-parent, if this 

 can be avoided. 



The next generation, the 10th and at present the last, 

 has repeated the progress observed in the ninth. Here 

 again the race of Scrophiilaria behaved differently from 

 that of Amarantiis. I confined myself to the progeny 

 of the plants of 1897 which exhibited the value of 14%, 

 and amongst the offspring of which the mean attained 

 20%. From these I selected five specimens with 22 — 23 



