Tin 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLVIII 



these dry bottles were rather small and in bottle No. 2, 

 they were extremely small in the last two counts. 



From Chart 6, where the records are given of the indi- 

 vidual bottles, it will be seen that there is a good deal of 

 irregularity from day to day. 



Special attention should be called to the curve of pro- 

 duction of bottle 2, which beginning with a high per- 

 centage of Beaded offspring gives fewer and fewer for 

 the first four counts (about six days) and then the per- 

 centage rapidly mounts again. The offspring given dur- 

 ing the last two counts were of surprising minuteness and 

 gave as high a percentage of Beaded individuals as the 

 average of all the bottles on the first day. It has been sug- 

 gested that it may not be wetness or dryness or any one 

 specific thing that brings out the Beadedness, but condi- 

 tions that are unfavorable to the organism as a whole, 

 resulting in poor nourishment. It has frequently been 



TABLE XXXI 

 The Influence of Acid, Alkaline, and Fkesh Food on n 



Mother Beaded; Father normal. 

 Father Beaded; Mother normal. 



Mother Beaded; Father normal. 

 Father Headed: Mother normal. 



Food Alkaline 

 Mother Beaded; Father normal . 

 Father Beaded ; Mother normal . 



44 



noted that those bottles which gave very tiny flies gave 

 also a higher percentage of Beaded individuals than the 

 bottles whose flies were of average size. On the other 

 hand, the first flies of a brood are almost invariably larger 

 than the later ones, and yet, as has been seen, they are 

 more Beaded. This is a paradox, but the behavior of 

 bottle No. 2 suggests that as a hatch proceeds and the 

 bottle becomes drier, there may be a certain optimum 

 point for the production of normal winged offspring, and 



