464 
Selective Elimination in Staphylea 
to find differences between the B series and the matured fruits — series C — of the 
same prevailing sign as between the series A and B. 
The results obtained by taking the difference C — B bear out in a most striking 
manner the considerations drawn from the differences B — A, for only 3 out of the 
28 differences bear the negative sign ! 
Finally the most critical comparison is that between the sample of eliminated 
ovaries and the fruits which reach maturity, i.e. C — A. The results bear out fully 
the conclusions drawn from the two foregoing comparisons, for only one of the 28 
differences has the negative sign. 
If any biologist wishes to test the number of cases in which twenty-seven 
positive and one negative sign would be expected according to purely chance causes, 
he might take 28 coins and toss them, noting the number of heads and tails he 
gets in each toss in order to determine the number of times that he will find 
27 heads and 1 tail in a few hundred tosses. Mathematical theory says it will be 
about 46 times in 100,000,000. 
The reader may take these chances for what he considers them worth. Person- 
ally I feel that the evidence is rather strongly in favour of the conclusion that there 
is a selective elimination of ovaries and that on the average it is those with the 
larger number of ovules which reach maturity. 
In Diagram 1 I have tried to make patent to the eye the difference between 
the eliminated and the matured ovaries for each of the 28 individuals and for all 
of the material examined. Here the circles show the mean of the eliminated 
ovaries and the solid dots the mean of those which reach maturity. The length of 
I I 
Serial Number of Individual. 
Diagram 1. Showing difference in mean of eliminated and matured ovaries for the 28 individuals and 
for the population. Circles = mean of eliminated loonies for individuals; solid dots=mean of 
matured locules for individuals. Broken transverse line = mean of all eliminated locules; solid 
transverse line = mean of all matured locules. 
