ii4 MENDEL: 



one of the objections which, was brought against 

 the Mendelian theory when repropounded, namely, 

 that wild animals and plants might not follow the 

 rules applying to domesticated breeds. Also it 

 clears up, so far as such a thing can ever be cleared 

 up, a difficulty to which Darwin devoted a vast 

 amount of time and space. 



It is quite clear, from what has been said, that 

 a knowledge of the Mendelian laws, assuming 

 that they are proved to be laws, ought to be of 

 the highest value to breeders and to agriculturists. 

 To the former the need of securing a pure strain 

 has always been of paramount importance. If the 

 Mendelian laws be true, then the problem will be 

 to find out the unit characters, establish which is 

 the recessive variety, and in that will be found a 

 pure race. A pure dominant race can also be 

 obtained, as has been shown. A few instances of 

 the application of these laws to purposes of the 

 kind indicated above will be of interest. 



The variety of fowl known as the Blue Andal- 

 usian has long been the despair of breeders. Do 

 what they might, select as carefully as they could, 

 it seemed to be impossible to secure a pure strain 

 of this form. No matter how perfect the parents, 

 the results have always been the production of 

 " wasters " of two kinds, some of them being pure 

 black, and others of a peculiar white, with black 

 splashes. On the average the results of the breed- 

 ing of a pen of Blue Andalusians is the production 

 of twenty-five per cent, each of black and of 

 splashed, and fifty per cent, of blue. This fact 

 receives a perfect explanation on Mendelian lines. 



