VOL. II. | Recent Literature. aa 
the more important for the future, is that mode of selection which 
will inevitably come into action through the ever-increasing free- 
dom, joined with the higher education of woman.’’ This second — 
must indeed be a factor of great importance, it would seem, although 
by no means the only one. Selection of the best existing cannot 
alone produce anything better than the best. Chee 
The Auk for January, 1892, contains nothing of special interest 
to the Pacific Coast. The supplement containing the address by the 
president, Mr. D. G. Elliot, on The Inheritance of Acquired Char- 
acters, is a timely and interesting discussion of this vital problem 
in biology, and deserves a careful reading. The closing words of 
the address are especially worthy of consideration by our’ American 
ornithologists. ‘“ The subject I have discussed offers a new field 
for ornithologists to explore: one of a higher plane, and permitting 
a wider vision than many of those they are accustomed to tread. I 
submit it to my younger colleagues, who have time and opportuni-_ 
ties before them, as of infinitely more importance than the discovery 
and naming of new forms, which is by no means the beginning and 
end of ornithology, but rather, if I may so term it, the A B C of the 
science; and then, by their contributions towards the elucidation of 
my theme, they will benefit not only those who are devoted to our 
own branch, but also scientific men throughout the world.” His 
arguments would have had more weight if they had not been stated 
from so obviously a partisan standpoint. Some of the instances 
which he gives in proof of the inheritance of acquired characters 
may be equally well explained in other ways, and hence are not 
conclusive. CoA. KS 
A Preliminary Study of the Grackles of the Subgenus Quiscalus. 
By Frank M. CHAPMAN. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., iv, I-20. 
The subgenus Quiscalus has always been known as a puzzling group 
of birds, but the real complexity of the inter-relationship of the dif- 
ferent forms was probably not fully realized before the appearance 
of Mr. Chapman’s comprehensive review. Although 845 specimens 
were examined, this material was found insufficient to complete the 
study of the group. Certain questions of vital importance are, how- 
ever, apparently settled. The three forms, Quiscalus @neus, 
QO. quiscula, and Q. guiscula agleus, are carefully described, and 
in a summary a brief diagnosis of each form is given, including 
