THE FALLACY CJF THE EtiCr TVl'E THEORY S.", 



certain stage of development, (lie mule and female organs are both pres- 

 ent and both equally developed. What destroys this balance and 

 causes one sex to dominate is no! yet known, but we have excellent 

 reasons for believing that the sex has not been predetermined up to the 

 time that this change takes place. Sometimes the determining' factor 

 seems to be absent and the hermaphrodite results. 



We have no reason to believe that there is any sex whatever present 

 in the vitalized germ contained in a new laid egg. When the egg has 

 been incubated long enough for the embryo to reach the right stage of 

 development the matter of sex is determined. If man is ever going to 

 control the matter, that is the time for him to operate. 



THE FALLACY OF THE "EGG TYPE" THEORY. 



[t is so difficult for us to understand what we cannot see that we are 

 constantly seeking for some visible sign by which we' can determine, 

 (usually without effort on our part) whatever Ave wish to know about 

 every object animate or inanimate that attracts our attention. 



Any characteristic, or any combination of characteristics, visible to 

 the eye or not. that always accompanies a specific performance, a spe- 

 cific trait, or a specific quality, aiiri /* ulu'di/x nhwnt vhru .such per- 

 funiLunct', irttit or i/unlity is i/f>si/it, constitutes a reliable type by 

 Avhich those who are competent are able to predetermine, accurately, 

 what performance, trait or quality will be present or absent in the ob- 

 ject under examination. 



What a task, then, has the investigator who seeks for the --egg type," 

 as it is usually understood, set before him. He has to discover a large 

 number of birds that are prolific and a large number that, when main- 

 tained under equally favorable conditions, are not prolific. These 

 birds must be taken from many breeds and different families within 

 each breed. The product of each specimen examined must be meas- 

 ured with a sufficient degree of accuracy so that no mistakes in that 

 regard are possible. Hearsay evidence that is unsupported by an indi- 

 vidual egg record must, therefore, be rigidly excluded from the start. 



The experimenter should not allow himself to lie encouraged by an 

 alleged "dairy-type" of cow. While there is a fair analogy between 

 egg production and milk production when we arc considering the com- 

 position of the two products and the importance of individual measure- 

 ment, there is as yet no apparent analogy beyond that. The quantity 

 and the richness of the milk that the dairy cow gives up at each milking 

 is the standard of measure in the dairy herd. In the poultry yard Ave 

 expect but one egg at a time and the quantity of nutriment contained 

 within that u^ has not as yet been connected with this question. If, 

 therefore, we look for a capacious abdomen in the ••egg type" hen 



