NEWS NOTES AND WANTS. 191 



The effects of the poison iq^on the writer were very similar 

 to those of Rhus vernix Linneeiis, except that the watery vescicles 

 were smaller and more distinct and were packed more closely 

 together, and that the sensations of itching and burning were less 

 noticeable, althongh this latter condition may have been more or 

 less the result of the exceptionally cool weather prevailing at that 

 time. 



On a later occasion like experiments with the Pink Ladies' 

 Slipper, Ci/pripediutn acaule Alton, produced similar but less 

 pronounced results. 



Carnegie Museum, June 8, 1907. 



In "Co)n)neiiis on the Experiments of Nilsson and Bur- 

 hank" (Open Court, Chicago,) Professor do Vries describes the 

 discovery and use of the method of selection of elementary spe^ 

 cies which in the hands of the Swedish breeder has brought about 

 results of marked value in a comparatively brief period, and also 

 sets forth some of the principal methods used by Burbank in hy- 

 bridization and consequent selections. A chapter is devoted to 

 the correlations of associated characters and their value in breed- 

 ing work, in which the operator will find much of practical im- 

 portance as well as of theoretical interest. The author has not 

 been able to resist the temptation to indulge in some hasty gener-. 

 alizations as to geographical distribution, which he doubtless 

 would repudiate after a more prolonged acquaintance with the 

 vegetation of the desert. 



Prof. John H. Schaffner, of the Ohio State University, has 

 been granted a vear's leave of absence, and will carrv on re- 

 searches in Zurich. 



Prof. G. J. Peirce, of Stanford University, is investigating 

 the effects of smelter fumes on plants, in the interest of the San 

 Mateo Home Improvement Co., and is visiting the leading smelt- 

 ers of the United States and Canada in pursuit of data on this 

 subject. 



Prof. W. Pi. Dudley and Dr. A. A. Lawson are soon to re- 



