PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 215 



dominance. In the case of characters like stature, 

 span, etc., in man this does not seem very improb- 

 able.' 



It is impossible to bring the present chapter to a con- 

 clusion without some reference to the practical aspects 

 of the Mendelian discovery. The progress of experi- 

 mental research in this field during the last half-dozen 

 years has been so rapid, that there is little ground for 

 astonishment in the fact that only a small proportion 

 of those to whom the discovery of the Mendelian 

 method is of the very highest importance from a com- 

 mercial point of view have yet arrived at any serious 

 appreciation of it. The improvement of the breeds of 

 cultivated plants and domestic animals is a subject of 

 vital importance to the whole human race, quite apart 

 from the question of the commercial profit which it 

 represents for those whose business it is to be directly 

 concerned with the process the actual plant- and 

 animal-breeders themselves. 



Hitherto the methods of amelioration which have 

 been adopted have depended largely upon guess-work, 

 or at the best upon the result of practical experience. 

 We are now within sight of the day when a complete 

 system of precise scientific methods will have been 

 elaborated. The time required for the development 

 and application of these methods must chiefly depend ; 

 upon the apathy or enterprise of those in whose hands 

 rests the means of subsidizing this kind of work, for 

 without proper resources the progress of any such 

 study must of necessity be slower than it would be,; 



