222 - GENETICS [BoT. Absts., Vol. IX, 



1384. Wright, Sewall. [Rev. of; Child, Charles Manning. The origin and develop- 

 ment of the nervous system. 296 p., 70 fig. Univ. of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1921.] Jour. 

 Heredity 12: 72-75. 1921. — The author points out that Child's book has wider interest than 

 might be inferred from the title, as it deals with some of the most fundamental problems of 

 biology. He criticises the author for making no attempt to bring the facts of genetics into 

 relation to his theory, and for apparently looking on the cell "as an organization in a particu- 

 lar kind of matter determined merely by a surface-interior gradient in relation to external 

 conditions," overlooking the well-established facts of cytology and the genetical evidence 

 for the individuality of the unit factors. The reviewer sees no incompatibility between 

 "the genetical and cytological conception of the cell as an association of independent or- 

 ganisms, living in a relatively large, less specialized mass of protoplasm and controlling the 

 behavior of the whole in response, of course, to external stimuli, .... [and] a simple 

 mechanism of heredity and a simple physiological conception of development such as that 

 offered by Child."— Geo. H. Shull. 



1385. Yamaguchi, Y. Kurtze Mitteilung iiber die Beziehung der Aufbliihzeit und 

 des Sitzes der Bliite am Rispenaste zum Korngewichte des Reises. [Concerning the time of 

 blossoming and the flower position on the branch to the grain-weight of rice.] Bot. Mag. Tokyo 

 34: 136-139. 1 fig. 1920. — The paper is preliminary to a fuller one to be published in Vol. 

 1, Heft 4, 1919, of Berichte des Ohara Instituts fiir Landwirtschaftliche Forschungen [see 

 following entry.] — Leonas L. Burlinga?ne. 



1386. Yamaguchi, Y. tJber die Beziehung der Aufbliihzeit und des Sitzes der Bliite am 

 Rispenaste zum Korngewichte des Reises. [The relation between the time of flowering and 

 the position on the panicle to the weight of the rice seed.] Ber. Ohara Inst. Landw. Forsch. 

 1: 451-517. 25 fig. 1919. — The flowers on the apical branch of the rice panicle are the first 

 to open. The flowers on a single branch open in a definite but not serial order. The order in 



which they open on the individual branches was 1, (7), 6, 5, 4, 8, 3, 11, 2, 15, 



. . The branches of the panicle blossom in characteristic basipetal order. This characteris- 

 tic regularity may be assumed to have a significant relationship to other characters, such as 

 the weight of the seed. — The heaviest seed (both in the entire panicle and in the separate 

 branch) usually develops from flowers opening on the 2nd, 3rd, or later day. The coefficient 

 of correlation between time of flowering and weight of seed ranges from — .660 to —.192 in 

 3 varieties studied. A somewhat greater negative correlation was found between weight of 

 glume and time of flowering. Intercomparisons of branches on a panicle showed that the 

 heaviest seeds developed from flowers which opened simultaneously but nevertheless came 

 from flowers which were the first to open on their respective branches. — The heaviest seed 

 is usually the 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th from the apex of the panicle branch. On the contrary, the 

 heaviest glume is found on the 1st, 5th, or Gth seed from the branch apex. The average seed 

 weight for the different positions decreases with the progress of the time of blossoming. It 

 may be assumed that there is some definite relationship between the weight of a seed and its 

 position on the branch. The heaviest, liglitest, and intermediate seeds generally harmonize 

 closely with the time their respective flowers opened. — The coeflficients of the correlation be- 

 tween position and weight of unhulled seeds range from — .397 to — .659. Since these correla- 

 tions are somewhat greater than those between the actual blooming time and the seed weight, 

 it is necessary to consider that the ordinal position of the flower on the branch may exert an 

 equal, or greater, influence upon seed weight than the actual blooming period. The investi- 

 gation shows that the weight of the chaff and the course of blossoming are very closely corre- 

 lated. In contrast, the correlation is less between the blossoming time and the seed weight. 

 This may be due to something which hinders the development of the apical seed of each branch 

 of the panicle. Factors which determine the seed weight are not easy to define, at least in 

 the rice plant. — H. S. Reed. 



1387. Yearsley, Macleod. Can acquired deafness lead to congenital deafness? Jour. 

 Laryngol. Rhinol. and Otol. 35: 270-271. 1920. — An account is presented with chart of "an 

 instance in which a family with a history of acquired deafness produced offspring that were 



