The Inheritance of Quantitative Characters in Maize 27 
tative characters as time of flowering, size of pod, and size of 
seed, there seems to be no question but that factors have segre- 
gated and recombined. In the F 2 generation there was invariably 
great variability, and in several cases extremes appeared that 
were beyond the grandparental types. The author does not 
commit himself further than to say that segregation has occurred, 
but the data that he presents are exactly what should be expected 
on the multiple factor interpretation. 
Phillips (1912) has studied the inheritance of body weight in 
a cross between the large French Rouen duck and the small 
domestic mallard. The first named variety is more than double 
the weight of the latter. He concludes that : "The amplitude of 
variation of the F 2 animals is greater than that of the F x animals, 
but does not extend beyond the nearer limit of the respective 
grandparental races." As a matter of fact, with an F 2 popula- 
tion of only 33 individuals it is remarkable that the variability 
was so great. 
In addition to these papers giving the results of actual investi- 
gations, Lang (1911) has published a long article showing how 
the results of Castle (1909) on ear length of rabbits might have 
a Mendelian interpretation by using Nilsson-Ehle's scheme. As 
Lang might have suspected, Castle had already acknowledged (in 
public lectures) the possibility of such an interpretation, an 
acknowledgment that was afterwards published (Castle 1911). 
METHODS AND MATERIALS USED. 
The methods employed in making these studies, including the 
growing of the plants, guarding the pollination, recording the 
data, etc., have been given in detail in previous papers (East and 
Hayes 1911 and Emerson 1911). A brief statement here will 
therefore suffice. In so far as possible the different generations 
of the various crosses and representatives of the parent varieties 
have been grown together in the same season, Where compari- 
sons are made between lots grown in different years the fact is 
indicated in the tables or accompanying text. The various lots 
to be compared have always been grown on the most nearly 
uniform soil available. In most cases certain plantings have 
been duplicated in different parts of the field, but it has not been 
possible to carry out this plan as fully as might be desired. 
Careful planting of seed, placing label-stakes in the field, and 
recording the position of the different lots on planting plans have 
practically removed the possibility of mistakes in identification. 
In the production of hand-pollinated seed, both staminate and 
pistillate inflorescences have been protocted with heavy manilla 
bags. In the transfer of pollen from the tassel-bags to the silks 
