84 
Weif/ht of Seed and Characteristics of Plant 
IV. Recapitulation. 
The facts presented in this paper and in the preceding studies justify the 
following conclusions. 
1. In Phaseolus vulgaris there is a sensible relationship between the weight 
of the seed planted and the number of pods on the plant developing from it. The 
correlation is always low, averaging only about "166, but under proper experimental 
conditions the coefficients have always been found to be positive. When experi- 
ments are not made with all necessary precautions substratum heterogeneity may 
completely obscure the influence of seed weight, reducing the correlation to 
practically zero or even bringing about a substantial negative correlation. 
2. There is also a significant positive correlation between the weight of the 
seed planted and the number of ovules and the number of seeds in the pods pro- 
duced by the plant developing from it. These correlations are so low that on 
relatively small samples negative values may be found. They average only about 
one-fifth to one-third the magnitude of the correlation for weight planted and pods 
per plant. 
The relationship for weight and ovules is numerically higher than that for 
weight and seed, but on the basis of the number of series now available the 
difference cannot be asserted to be significant. 
3. Morphogenetically and physiologically, the observed correlations between 
weight and ovules and weight and seeds are to be regarded as the resultant of two 
other correlations, namely, that between the weight of the seed planted and the 
number of pods per plant and that between the number of pods on the plant and 
the chaiacteristics of these pods. This conclusion is based on the fact that the 
partial correlation coefficient for weight of seed planted and number of ovules or 
seeds per pod for constant number of pods per plant is practically zero. 
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 
Augiist 20, 1913. 
