THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



413 



why this is more true of separate traits 

 than of the organism as a whole, or how 

 the theory is affected by modern work 

 in experimental genetics. Indeed, the 

 occurrence of mutations makes it easier 

 to understand the results of natural se- 

 lection, for the larger variations may 

 have a definite value to the species when 

 the smaller variations which might have 

 lead up to them would not. 



In his second address Professor 

 Bateson says that at every turn the stu- 

 dent of political science is confronted 

 with problems that demand biological 

 knowledge for their solution, but it does 

 not appear that most of Professor 

 Bateson 's own generalizations — whether 

 correct or not — are based on genetic 

 research. For example, he urges that it 

 can not be granted without qualification 

 that the decline in the birth-rate of the 

 intelligent and successful part of the 

 population is to be regretted. He says 

 that if the upoer strata of the commun- 

 ity produce more children than will re- 

 cruit their numbers, some must fall into 

 the lower strata and increase the pres- 

 sure there. But it is by no means cer- 

 tain that there is too great pressure of 

 population in France, Germany, Eng- 

 land and the United States, and it 

 would seem that an increase of intelli- 

 gence and energy in the so-called lower 

 classes would be a gain. 



In so far as the small birth-rate of 

 the upper classes is not so disastrous as 

 some authors urge, it is because these 

 classes owe their position to privilege 

 rather than to ability, and if the privi- 

 leged classes do not produce enough 

 children to fill the positions of influence, I 

 men of greater ability may be found. 



Professor Bateson says : ' ' Modern 

 statesmanship aims rightly at helping 

 those who have got sown as wildlings to 

 come into their proper class; but let 

 not any one suppose such a policy dem- 

 ocratic in its ultimate effects, for no 

 course of action can be more effective 

 in strengthening the noper classes 

 whilst weakening the lower. ' ' Here 

 and elsewhere Professor Bateson seems 

 to misunderstand the proper meaning of 



democracy, which is not that all indi- 

 viduals are equal, but that each should 

 have opportunity according to his abil- 

 ity. 



A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF A 

 BESEBT BASIN 



The making of the modern Salton 

 lake in the sink of the Cahuilla basin in 

 3 905 and 1906 was due directly to the 

 opening of canals for irrigation from 

 the Colorado River leading into the 

 bowl and a coincidence of flood water 

 from the main tributaries of the river. 

 The director of the Desert Laboratory 

 of the Carnegie Institution, Dr. D. T. 

 MacDougal, formulated a plan for sys- 

 tematic measurement of th 3 various 

 physical and biological changes accom- 

 panying the recession of this lake and 

 the results of the activities of the mem- 

 bers of the staff of the Desert Labora- 

 tory and other collaborators are given 

 in Publication 193 of the Institution. 



Scarcely had the level of the lake be- 

 gun to fall and the salts to become 

 more concentrated, when it was noted 

 (in 1911 that calcium was being lost 

 from a solution not near the saturation 

 point for carbonate, and in 1911 a dis- 

 tinct coating of lime was recognized on 

 the branches of submerged trees. Such 

 deposition seemed to be associated with 

 the activities of certain bacteria and 

 algae, and to constitute the first stage in 

 the formation of the travertine left by 

 previous lakes. Investigation of this 

 matter is still in progress, as well as 

 that of the disappearance of potassium 

 from the lake water which is now 

 plainly apparent. The principal 



changes in plant tissues submerged in 

 the Salton were studied by President M. 

 A. Brannon, of the University of Idaho, 

 who found bacteria of the Amylobacter 

 group were present, which produced a 

 hydrolyzing action on the unlignified 

 uarts of vegetable tissues. Coincident] y, 

 Professor G. J. Peiree, of Stanford 

 University, followed the behavior of 

 some of the organisms which endure the 

 entire range of variation from fresh to 

 brackish water and finally to brine in 



