248 t'l^' 'I'lir. INHERITANCE OF THE FLOWERING TIME IN PEAS AND RICE 
ever, we can safely assume tliat the hereditary difference of the pure line char- 
acter is qualitative rather than (juantitative. In other words, if the heredity of 
flowering time may be interpreted by the Mendel ian factor theory, the num- 
ber of factors from both pure lines is not different, but the quality of factors 
is different. 
In Table i i (Pis. XV and XVI) the would-be constant families are com- 
paratively few. There are no early constants. Only one case is met with in 
each of the late and the pseudo-late constants (Nos. i I and lo respectively). 
Among the intermediate constants, the 7 families from No. i to No. 7 appear 
to belong to the early intermediate group. The variation types of these 
families are not all similar, and the difference among them is not so wide as 
to divide them again into different groups. Two families. No. 8 and No. 9, 
have a [leculiar variation type. From the position of the variation range, 
they may be considered as late intermediate constants, but from the type of 
frequency distribution they suggest rather that they are families variable 
within a narrow range. Their intrinsic nature must be determined, however, 
only by the actual raising of the F^^ offsprings (see Table 15). 
Next, we shall dwell on the variable families. From the general charac- 
ters of the variation types we may take 79 families, from No. 20 to No. 98, in 
Table 9, 38 families, from No. 17 to No. 54, in Table 10 and 73 families, from 
No. I 2 to No. 84, in Table i r, as variable families. For the sake of easy com- 
parison, they are arranged according to the similarity of the variation types. 
The following may be enumerated as remarkable facts. 
1. None of the families which are the progenies of those F^ individuals 
which belonged to the early flowering group (No. 20 to No. 44 except 
32, 33, 37, 39 and 41 in Table 9; No. 17 to No. 27 in Table 10; No. I2 
to No. 32 in Table i i) have variation ranges which reach the variation 
range of G- P- Some vary only within the combined range of the early 
constant and the early intermediate constant, and the others within the 
combined range of the early constant and the late intermediate constant. 
2. Among the families descended from the hite-flowered F2 individuals, 
