The Inheritance of a Somatic Variation in Maize 15 
In comparison with the cases reported by Hartley and 
by East and Hayes and one of my first cnltnres from 
open-pollinated ears, in all of which red grains produced 
no variegated ears and striped grains no red ones, the 
striking features of the results from these 106 self-pol- 
linated ears are the facts that the wholly red grains 
yielded some variegated as well as red ears and that the 
striped grains and even the wholly non-red grains yielded 
some red as well as variegated ears. The percentages noted 
above indicate in a general way that for self-pollinated, 
variegated ears, the more red there is in the seed planted 
the larger the percentage of red ears in the progeny. 
These records, however, do not give a wholly trustworthy 
indication of the mode of inheritance of the somatic vari- 
ations concerned here. If there is a modification of some 
factor in the female gametes, associated with a visible 
modification of somatic cells of the pericarp and even at 
times of the cob and husks, modifications that do not be- 
come visible until long after the gametes are formed, may 
there not be a similar modification of the same factor in 
the male gametes, though here not associated with any 
visible change in somatic cells because of the fact that the 
staminate inflorescence dies too soon after the pollen is 
shed? If male gametes do carry such modified factors 
and if the modification is as irregular in occurrence as the 
somatic modifications seen in variegated ears, so that any 
part of the tassel, from all to none, may produce gametes 
with the modified factor while not showing any visible 
somatic modification, it is obvious that the real nature of 
the male gametes of any variegated-eared maize plant 
can not be foretold. The mere fact that a variegated ear 
is self -pollinated, therefore, does not insure that its seeds 
are fertilized with pollen of known character. 
That the male gametes of variegated-eared maize do 
often carry factors for self-red is shown by crosses of 
pure non-red strains with pollen from plants with varie- 
