550 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 588. 



develop perfect horns? No case of this kind 

 ■was observed in my studies. 



The table belovr gives the data secured dur- 

 ing the past season. In the column headed 

 ' breeding,' the symbol for the male parent 

 stands first. 



PBOGENT OF POLLED HEREFOED BULLS. 

 !>= polled ; i?"= horned ; Ph = hybrid. 



From the above table it will be seen that 

 the highest expectation is realized or very 

 nearly so in nearly every case. Of the three 

 cases in vehich the departures are considerable, 

 in two the numbers of progeny are small 

 (bull No. 6) ; in addition there is probably 

 an error in the records in this case (see below). 

 In the other (bull No. 7, F/i X ■&)> the records 

 are incomplete, and may be in error, as ex- 

 plained below. Omitting these two bulls from 

 the third group, the results are very near in- 

 deed to the highest expectation. 



Bull No. 1. — This animal is long since dead. 

 The data concerning his breeding and his 

 progeny were obtained from the records of 

 the owner. His ancestry was such that he 

 might have been either a pure poll or a hybrid. 

 On the theory that he was a pure poll, and that 

 the polled character is dominant, his progeny 

 from both five horned and six hybrid cows 

 (cows having one horned parent) are all 

 polled, as they should be. 



Bull No. 2. — This is a so-called ' freak,' or 

 polled bull from horned ancestors. His nu- 

 merous progeny show him to be a hybrid. 

 Some of his near relatives were polled, and it 

 is probable that his dam was a hybrid with 

 large scurs. This, at least, would account for 

 his evident hybrid character. 



Bull No. 8. — This was another ' freak,' but 

 with some polled kin. He is clearly a hybrid. 

 His first owner bred him to five horned cows, 

 and all the progeny had horns (or lar^e 

 scurs ( ?) ). His next owner bred him to 

 34 cows and secured 17 polled and 17 horned 

 calves. 



Bull No. .4.— This bull was from No. 2 

 (hybrid) and a horned cow. He has rather 

 large scurs, rather loosely attached to the 

 skull, and both his breeding and his progeny 

 show him to be a hybrid. 



Bull No. 5. — Out of a horned cow and by a 

 polled bull, hence a hybrid. His progeny in 

 both the third and fourth groups meet the 

 highest Mendelian expectation. 



Bull No. 6. — This is another ' freak,' a regis- 

 tered Hereford. He has small scurs. How 

 he came by his apparent hybrid character is 

 unknown. It will be noticed that when bred 

 either to horned or hybrid cows his horned 

 progeny are in excess of the highest expecta- 

 tion. This is probably an error. His owner, 

 for fear of misrepresenting facts to pur- 

 chasers, states that he has always counted 

 large scurs as horns, and they so appear in his 

 records. Although the nuniber of progeny is 

 small, and might, therefore, depart widely 

 from expectation without vitiating the results, 

 it is probable that a careful examination of 

 his progeny, which I was unable to make ex- 

 cept in a few cases, would show that the actual 

 numbers agree more closely with expectation 

 than those shown. 



Bull No. 7. — In this case the departure is 

 very large, in the case of progeny from horned 

 cows. By his breeding he must have been a 

 hybrid, unless his owner erred in recording 

 the dam as horned when she was really a 

 hybrid with large scurs. Both sire and dam 

 are dead, and this point can not now be de- 

 termined. It is possible, however, that this 

 error was made, as the owner is the breeder 



