some paternal chromosomes, i.e. one or the other member of each pair. At the other division each chromosome simply splits as in ordinary cell division.
Fig. 50. The two maturation divisions of the sperm cell. Four sperms result, each with half (haploid) the full number (diploid) of chromosomes.
The upshot of the process is that the ripe eggs (fig. 51) and the ripe spermatozoa (fig.
50) come to contain only half the total number of chromosomes.
Fig. 51. The two maturation divisions of the egg. The divisions are unequal, so that two small polar bodies are formed one of these subsequently divides. The three polar bodies and the egg are comparable to the four sperms.
When the eggs are fertilized the whole number of chromosomes is restored again.
The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity Discovered in the Behavior of the Chromosomes
If the factors in heredity are carried in the chromosomes and if the chromosomes are definite structures, we should anticipate that there should be as many groups of characters as there are kinds of chromosomes. In only one