64 Nebraska Agricultural Exp. Station, Research Bui. 7. 
In presenting this factorial interpretation of inheritance of 
height of plant in beans, the writer disavows any intention of 
maintaining that this is the only possible interpretation of the 
facts presented. Castle's hypothesis of the modification of genetic 
factors is another such interpretation (Castle 1914a). Perhaps 
neither is correct. Both serve the purpose of working hypotheses, 
in so far as they suggest the direction of further researches. Since 
one hypothesis may suggest certain lines of further investigation 
and another hypothesis may suggest other lines, it is fortunate 
that we are not limited to a single hypothesis. The multiple- 
factor hypothesis has been adopted here because it seems to the 
writer to afford the more simple and direct interpretation of the 
known facts concerning the inheritance of quantitative characters. 
This statement is made with a full realization that, whatever 
hypothesis is adopted, it must interpret the facts of inheritance 
derived from selection experiments as well as those obtained from 
cross-breeding. 
literature cited. 
Bailey, L. H. 
The dwarf Lima beans. Bui. Cornell, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. 
87:83-101. 1895. 
Bateson, W., and Punnett, R. C. 
Sweet peas. Rpts. Evol. Com. Roy. Soc. 4:6-18. 1908. 
Castle, W. E. 
The inconstancy of unit-characters. Amer. Nat. 46:352- 
362. 1912. 
Pure fines and selection. Jour. Heredity 5:93-97. 1914. 
Size inheritance and the pure fine theory. Zeit. induk. 
Abast. Vererb. 12:225-237. 1914a. 
Castle, W. E., and Phillips, J. C. 
Piebald rats and selection. Pub. Carnegie Inst. 195:1-56. 
1914. 
East, E. M. 
The Mendefian notation as a description of phys"ological 
facts. Amer. Nat. 46:633-655. 1912. 
East, E. M., and Hayes, H. K. 
Inheritance in maize. Bui. Conn. Agr. Exp. Sta. 167:1- 
142. 1911. 
Emerson, R. A. 
Heredity in bean hybrids. Ann. Rpt. Nebr. Agr. Exp. Sta. 
17:33-68. 1904. 
The inheritance of sizes and shapes in plants. Amer. Nat. 
44:743-744. 1910. 
