132 Mr. A. D. Darbishire. On Crossing Round with [June 20, 
the amount of water, taken up by a pea immersed in tap-water for 24 hours 
expressed as a percentage of the weight of the ‘dry pea. The average 
absorptive capacity of 15 “British Queen” (@¢., wrinkled) peas weighed 
separately is 122 per cent. The average absorptive capacity of 12 “ Kclipse” — 
(i.e, round) seeds is 86 per cent. The absorptive capacity of a single F, seed, 
produced by crossing “ British Queen” with “ Eclipse,” is 100 per cent. It 
will be seen that the hybrid is intermediate between the two parents. 
The only evidence I have concerning the absorptive capacity in succeeding 
generations is derived from the examination of the contents of two 
sample pods in the Fy» generation derived from the cross (already referred to) 
between “ British Queen” and “ Eclipse,’ made by Mr. Wadsworth. The facts 
are shown in Table V. And it will be seen that whilst the difference between 
the absorptive capacity of round and wrinkled is well marked, that the 
absorptive capacities of the two kinds of rounds, 7.¢. those with p-grains and 
those with 7- or 7-grains, is not in accordance with expectation. For in the 
pure round pea the p-grain 1s associated with an absorptive capacity 86, and 
in the F, round the 7-grain with one of 100. And it was not unreasonable to 
suppose that the absorptive capacity was in some way determined by or, at any 
rate, associated with the nature of the grain rather than with the shape of the 
seed, for it is in seed-shape only that we find dominance; whilst in both 
grain-shape and absorptive capacity the two parent forms blend. 
The expectation, however, suggested by this parallel between starch-grain 
and absorptive capacity in F, is not, as we see, fulfilled in Fe. 
Table V. 
Pod. | Individual seeds. ae rae Nature of grains. ei ES 
to oteo lea MSS RE Gece a GR p 96 
B YR p me 100 
Y GR p 97 
| 6 YW c 141 
£ GW c 141 
Som Orc. ccs! a YR r me 100 
B GR 7 mc 97 
Y YR p 97 
6 YR ame 97 
E YW c 142 
g GW c 139 
The r-grains in other Hybrid Peas. 
The intermediate nature of F; grains was also observed in the following 
crosses (Table VI). The grains in these seeds were not measured ; but it was 
