Variation and Correlation in Serially Situated Organs in Insects, Fishes and Birds

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Abstract
A study was made of variation and correlation of the joints in the antennae of Pyrrhocoris apterus L. (Hemiptera), of the phalanges in 3 species of birds: Gallus domesticus, Anser albifrons and Corvus comix, and of the fins of a fish, Boreogadus saida (Lep.). Intercorrelations of the joint of the antennae of Pyrrhocoris give clear evidence of the existence of the rule of neighborhood (Pearson) and of a rule of greater correlation in proximal joints than in distal ones. This newly established rule is also observed in the correlations of the phalangeal bones of birds. The rule of neighborhood also holds in this case, with only one exception. The correlations of ante-dorsal and ante-ventral lengths in B. saida, with the length of the fins and the distances between them, show that the correlation between characters situated at opposite ends of the body (head and tail) is the largest. The rule of neighborhood does not appear in this case, being disturbed probably by mechanical or physiological causes.