Assuming that the bowing effect exists even in a homogeneous alloy, Van Vechten's work has been extended to eighteen III-V ternary alloys. The lowest direct 0's gaps E//0's are calculated using the dielectric method taking into account the virtual crystal approximation. Provided that the maximum error of 2 meV is allowed, the composition dependence of E//0 in ten alloys is satisfied with a quadratic expression, whereas the others should conform to a cubic one.