THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS 
prominent characteristics of the parent dis- 
closed in the offspring, as color of flower, 
length of stem, shape of leaves, form of seed, 
arrangement of flowers, and so on. Certain 
other parental characters he called “recessive,” 
appearing in lesser number in the new 
plant, or disappearing altogether. These char- 
acteristics appeared in the offspring in an 
invariable ratio, that of three to one. Seventy- 
five per cent of the characters of the new 
plant,—form, color, development and so on, 
would be “dominant,” twenty-five per cent 
would be “recessive.” The recessive char- 
acters thereafter bred true, but the dominant 
ones produced progeny one-third genuine 
dominant,— which also bred true to their 
own type, and two-thirds cross-breeds, the 
latter, when self-fertilized, giving out the 
old ratio of seventy-five per cent “dominant” 
characters, twenty-five per cent “recessive.” 
These “laws,” so-called, would provide 
means for determining in advance what 
results would follow in the breeding of 
plants; and, if carried forward into animal- 
breeding, would be of inconceivable value. 
Quite generally throughout Europe these 
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