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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLYIII 



ber sufficient to indicate whether the initial assumption 

 regarding the gametic compositions was of value in 

 arranging the observed facts. 



Progeny of Sweet Seeds 



Sweet seeds were assumed to result from squares 6, 8, 

 14 and 16. It will be seen that in none of these is there 

 any factor other than 8 and since the absence of both 

 factors, as in square 16, is also assumed to produce sweet, 

 we should expect nothing but all sweet ears from self- 

 pollinated plants grown from sweet seeds. 



Seventeen self-pollinated ears wore secured from plants 

 grown from sweet seeds. All the seeds of these ears were 

 sweet with the exception of one waxy seed. This one waxy 

 seed was colored and since it occurred on an ear from a 

 white sweet seed that otherwise produced only white 

 sweet seeds, the exception may reasonably be ascribed to 

 accidental foreign pollen. 



Progeny of Waxy Seeds 



Waxy seeds were assumed to have resulted from the 

 combinations shown in squares 11, 12 and 15. Seeds from 

 square 11 should produce only waxy seeds. Squares 12 

 and 15 should produce ears with waxy and sweet seeds 

 in proportion of 3 waxy to 1 sweet. There should, there- 

 fore, be one all waxy ear to two with both waxy and sweet 

 seeds. There were in all 29 ears from waxy seeds, 11 of 

 which were all waxy and 18 with both waxy and sweet 

 seeds. The numbers are small but at least both kinds of 

 ears were secured and the proportion does not violate the 

 original assumption. The 18 ears with both waxy and 

 sweet seeds all produced them in approximately the 3 : 1 

 ratio. The numbers are given in Table I. The totals with 

 3,154 seeds indicate that if there is a deviation, it is almost 

 certainly less than 2 per cent. 



All the sweet seeds that occur on ears grown from waxy 

 seeds are assumed to belong to the new class of sweet 

 seeds corresponding to that represented in square 16. 



