No. 534] FECUNDITY IN THE DOMESTIC FOWL 345 



this sort carried out at the Maine station indicate that 

 the relatively high fecundity characteristic of the Barred 

 Rock breed is inherited as a sex-limited character. In 

 this respect it behaves like a simple unit character, but 

 this does not necessarily prove that it is not a complex. 

 More data are needed to settle this point. Of much signifi- 

 cance is the fact that, whether simple or complex, fecun- 

 dity is shown by these experiments in cross breeding to 

 be a character resting on a definite gametic basis. 



In conclusion, I think it may fairly be said that the in- 

 vestigations here reported show in the first place that 

 different degrees of fecundity are inherited in the do- 

 mestic fowl, and in the second place, that in all respects 

 wherein it has been possible, considering the inherent 

 difficulties of the material and the character dealt with, 

 to make the test, the method of this inheritance is in en- 

 tire accord with Johannsen's concept of genotypes. 



