The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1908-01-16
A NEW LIGHT ON HEREDITY.
Recent Important Discoveries That
Will Shortly Be Announced.

IT is claimed for the School Of Agri-
cultural Science at Cambridge. says
a London cable to the New York Sun,
that il has accomplished greater mar
wells in recent years than the famous
achievements of Burbank in Calfor-
mia. A report is soon to be issued that
is expected to create greater sensa-
tion in the world of science than any
recent discovery.
The line Of investigation has been
the study of what is known as Men
dell's law Of heredity, and it's appli,
cation is to be demonstrated not only
in vegetable life, but with regard TO
animals as well. The principle is best
shown by simple illustration.
II is found that dwarf peas and
tall peas are crossed the resulting crop
the next year will be all tall peas. Thu
second years crop, however, will be
in exact proportion, one-quarter dwarf
peas, three quarters tall peas.
OF these tall peas just one-quarter
will be pure tall peas, and never again
show signs Of dwarfness The remain
ing two-quarters will be impure, but
again crossed with their like will give
pure tails, pure dwarfs and mongrels
in due proportion
So we find in all grandchildren, so
to speak of strains that the proportion
1:2:1 has a mysterious application
that is, one-quarter Of these grandchild
rem will be of exact or pure repro
ductions in one-quality of their grand
mother, and two-quarters, though re-
sembling the grandparent will have
latent in them the qualities of both.
1t is affirmed that all qualities trans
mittable by heredity in vegetable
and animal life are governed by this
law. Tn regard to animals, the sim.
plest and best known case in common
experience perhaps is that of the blue
Andalusian fowl.
If the pure black and the speckled
white varieties be mated together. all
the chickens viii be blue. But mate
two Of the blue Andelusians, and il
always happens that the chickens are
of the three sorts-some black, some
of the speckled white and some Of the
composite color known as the blue
Andalusians, and the most inexplica.
BILE fact in connection with this fam
lily picture Of inherited qualities is
that both the blacks and the whites
and also half Of the descendants of
the blues in the next generation may
be called pure bred--that is in certain
definite respects no trace of the cross
will again appear in their progeny
This issue, though il has rather diff
ferent appearance, is theoretically
much the same as that of the ease of
the peas, and proves the existence of
deep rooted law that would revo.
tionize the science of developing vege-
tables.
Though the physical secret is OBJ
scnre, the course of this strange be
havior in the fowls and the peas may
be considered for practical purposes
certain. After vast numbers Of ex.
periments, chiefly with plants, and
also with poultry. mice end Others.
number of characteristics, such as
the slope of the combs in fowls, cer.
tin colors in the peas. beardiness in
wheat, perhaps eye-color in man--has
been marked down as answering to
fixed laws which we can control
The Mendell law is, Of course, by
no means free of complications, and
the experiments are still in their in
fancy Still, the Cambride biologists
have turned out a wheat which com.
bines the strength of the Manitoba
hard grain with the yield of the softer
English grain. 1t is maintained that
the value Of the English wheat crop
will be increased by this means to the
extent Of fully $3.50 to the acre. This
is only one Of the practical features
Of the investigation which will short
ly be announced.
The problem Of the application Of
the Mendell law to the breeding of
animals and human beings is much
more complicated, but 1t is believed
that important discoveries in the
breeding Of sheep, cattle and perhaps
horses are already available.