1909.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 173 



One very striking point in this comparison lies in the fact 

 that individual j^arents vary so much in the transmission of 

 different characters. For examjile, j^arent B stands at the head 

 in the transmission of the character " peas j)er pod " and at the 

 foot for " pods per vine." Similar lack of correspondence is 

 seen in many other cases. These facts, however, surprising 

 though they may seem at first sight, really conform to the more 

 modern theories of heredity, in which it is understood that dif- 

 ferent characters are often transmitted as independent units. 



Nevertheless, some interesting observations on the other side 

 should not be overlooked. Parent K, for example, stands at the 

 head in the transmission of two of the qualities studied, and 

 stands second for the other two. Parent J also stands second in 

 the transmission of two characters. On the other hand, parent 

 C shows the minimum power of transmission in one character 

 and. stands next to the foot in two others. Parent E falls to the 

 minimum place in two characters, though ranking fairly high in 

 the other two. From these figures it would appear fair to give 

 K the sweepstakes prize for all-round j)reiDotency. 



