LUTHER BURBANK 



which characters appear to be permanently 

 blended when first brought together; not momen- 

 tarily linked in an unequal union to be segregated 

 in the next generation, but fixed in a new and 

 lasting combination that strikes a balance between 

 the combinations presented by the parent forms. 



It is possible, to be sure, to interpret this aspect 

 of heredity in Mendelian terms. Nor should we 

 deny altogether the validity of such application, 

 for we may well believe that there are gradations 

 all along the line, could we search them out, be- 

 tween the case of the sterile hybrid, born of widely 

 diverged parents, and the case of offspring of 

 members of the same species that differ only as 

 to some varietal character. 



Of course the same laws, could we fathom 

 them in their broader aspect, apply to each and 

 every case. 



But, on the other hand, it is at least open to 

 question whether it would not be better to reserve 

 the application of the Mendelian terms to such 

 types of inheritance as Mendel himself studied, in 

 which there was interplay of dominant and re- 

 cessive factors, and the varied segregation of the 

 different factors in new combination in the second 

 filial generation. 



Thus restricted, the Mendelian formula has in- 

 dividuality and specific meaning. 



[132] 



