818 Fluctuations 



bers and their average has a good chance of ex- 

 emption from a considerable portion of the 

 doubts adhering to single excessive cases. 



It is curious to note here what Louis Vilmorin 

 taught concerning this point in the year 1850. I 

 quote his own words : *' I have observed that in 

 experiments on heredity it is necessary to in- 

 dividualize as much as possible. So I have 

 taken to the habit of saving and sowing sepa- 

 rately the seeds of every individual beet, and I 

 have always found that among the chosen 

 parent-plants some had an offspring with a bet- 

 ter average yield than others. At the end I 

 have come to consider this character only as a 

 standard for amelioration.'* 



The words are clear and their author is the 

 originator of the whole method of plant-breed- 

 ing selection. Yet the principle has been aban- 

 doned, and nearly forgotten under the impres- 

 sion that polarization alone was the supreme 

 guide to be relied upon. However, if I under- 

 stand the signs rightly, the time is soon coming 

 when Vilmorin 's experience will become once 

 more the foundation for progress in breeding. 



Leaving the theoretical and historical as- 

 pects of the problem, we will now recall the ex- 

 perimental evidence, given in a former lecture, 

 dealing with the inheritance of monstrosi- 

 ties. I have shown that in many instances mon- 



