36 Varietäten, Descendenz, Hybriden. 



Sixty Day. A preponderance of awnless yellows in F2 and F3 sug- 

 gests a linkage of this inhibitory factor with the factor for yellow 

 color in the Sixty-Day. Such a finding would be in agreement 

 with the results of Nilsson-Ehle. M. J. Sirks (Wageningen). 



Osborn, H. F., Biocharacters as separable units of organic 

 structure. (American Naturalist. LI. p. 449—456. 1917.) 



The writer proposes a new term „biocharacter" as a general 

 designation of the character unit in the organism. Biocharacters 

 are those characters, large and small, which through the evidence 

 afforded by ontogeny, phylogeny or heredity are found to be 

 separable from or indepent of each other as units in the processes 

 of heredity, of evolution, and of individual development. The sepa- 

 rability of biocharacters is observable under six classes of evidence. 



First, biocharacters are separable through their many diflferent 

 modes of origin from the germ, either saltatory, gradational or 

 continuous. 



Second, biocharacters have different rates of motion, or velo- 

 city, in individual development (ontogeny), exhibiting acceleration 

 or retardation. 



Third, biocharacters have different rates of evolution in diflfe- 

 rent phyla (phylogeny), again exhibiting acceleration or retardation 

 (phyla). 



Fourth, all the biocharacters of an organism cooperate through 

 various modes of grouping in functional correlation, in compen- 

 sation, in sex linkage. 



Fifth, in the hard parts of the body while the biocharacters 

 of form and proportion may originale through continuity, through 

 saltation, or through rainute gradations, all the known evolution 

 of Proportion biocharacters is continuous. 



Sixth, in the hard parts the biocharacters of rectigradations 

 have only been observed to originale and develop through continuity. 



M. J. Sirks (Wageningen). 



Stout, A. B., The origin of dwarf plants as shown in a 

 Sport of Hibiscus oculiroseus. (Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. XLII. 

 p. 429—450. PI. 26, 27. 1915.) 



A dwarf form of Hibiscus oculiroseus has appeared in a 

 pedigreed culture as a sporadic Variation. It differs from the robust 

 form in possessing a smaller stature, shorter internodes, smaller 

 leaves, many crinkled leaves and in the development of lateral 

 branches from the base of the main stem. 



Plants intermediate between the dwarf and the robust forms 

 appear. These possess one or more of the characters of the dwarf 

 types in some degree of development. 



AU the dwarf plants thus far obtained are the progeny of a 

 Single plant. No dwarf plants appeared among the 103 plants grown 

 as progeny of four sister plants of that plant. 



The parent plant of this dwarf possessed already in slight 

 degree the characteristicsof crinkled leaves and shortened internodes. 



The dwarf plants appeared in varying numbers along with 

 robust and intermediate types. One series was composed of one 

 dwarf, eleven robust and three intermediate plants; another series 

 was composed of forty five dwarf plants. 



