1 92 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



That rediscovery of recent years known as " Men- 

 del's law " is still a bone of contention. To name it, 

 in some quarters, is to stir up vigorous protest. " It 

 won't work," say a few, who think themselves fitted to 

 pass judgment. Yet, if it be a real law, it may prove of 

 so much basic importance to the breeder that I do not 

 wish to omit giving a little insight into it. A law must 

 always produce the same results under the same condi- 

 tions. Those who question this law of Mendel's say 

 that it does not always hold good, as formulated; which 

 is virtually the same as saying that it is not a law of 

 Nature, at least, when applied to animals. It was first 

 offered as a law for plants. 



However, Harper's Magazine for December, 1908, 

 contained an article entitled " Applied Heredity," by 

 R. C. Punnett, M.A., a Cambridge University man. 

 Referring to the paper in which Gregor Mendel, an 

 Austrian monk, gave to the world the results of his 

 work of research and experimentation, he says it is one 

 that " for magnitude of issue, can be compared only with 

 William Harvey's classic treatise on the circulation of 

 the blood." Because this especial writer is willing to go 

 on record with this straight-out affirmation : " The prin- 

 ciples he enunciated have been shown to hold good for 

 animals as well as plants," I shall base this brief no- 

 tice of Mendel's law largely on Mr. Punnett's review 

 of its working out. There is, too, another reason. It 

 lies in the fact that he takes a fowl, the Rose-Comb 

 Bantam, to illustrate the law. This breed, having both 

 a white and a black variety, and breeding true in both, 

 forms an accurate and convenient example. 



A tendency which we may call color domination has 



