Artificial and Natural Selection 821 



their extremes were in each case far better con- 

 stituted than the average of the chosen type. 

 Hence, for selection purposes, the atavists must 

 be considered to be in no way inferior to the 

 typical specimens. 



If it had been possible to apply this principle 

 to twisted and fasciated plants, and perhaps 

 even to other monstrosities, I think that it will 

 readily be granted that the chance of bringing 

 even these races up to a percentage of 90;^ 

 would have been large enough. But the large 

 size of the cultures required for the counting of 

 numerous groups of offspring in the adult state 

 has deterred me from making such trials. Ee- 

 cently however, I have discovered a species, 

 Viscaria oculata which allows of counting 

 twisted specimens in the pans, and I may soon 

 be able to obtain proofs of this assertion. The 

 validity of the hereditary percentage as a stand- 

 ard of selection has, within the last few years, 

 been recognized and defended by two eminent 

 breeders, W. M. Hays in this country and Von 

 Lochow in Germanv. Both of them have start- 

 ed from the experience of breeders of domestic 

 animals. Von Lochow applied the principle 

 to rye. He first showed how fallacious the 

 visible characters often are. For instance 

 the size of the kernels is often dependent on 

 their number in the head, and if this number is 



