22 GENETICS [BoT. Absts., Vol. X, 



115. Pearl, Raymond. The biology of death. V. The inheritance of duration of life in 

 man. Sci. Monthly 13 : 46-66. 5 fig. 1921. — This, the fifth of a series of papers on the general 

 topic, treats of the factor of heredity. The writer reviews and discusses the work of 

 Alexander Graham Bell on longevity in the Hyde family and the correlation studies of 

 Pearson and Beeton; also the investigations of Ploetz of Munich and of E. C. Snow as bear- 

 ing on the question of a selective death rate in man. The latter is supplemented by conclu- 

 sions drawn from unpublished statistical work of F. S. Crum and Arne Fisher based on a 

 large body of Dutch material. The final conclusions are that "the death rate of the earliest 

 period of life is selective," and that "inheritance is one of the strongest elements, if not indeed 

 the dominating factor, in determining the duration of life of human beings." — Howard J. 

 Banker. 



116. Pearson, Chas. E. Protection for plant novelties. Gard. Chron. 67: 8. 1920. — 

 The author deprecates the present position of the raiser of new fruits, etc.; no method of pro- 

 tection is suggested. The paper is elicited by a previous article by Bliss. — /. M. Shull. 



117. Plumb, C. S. Types and breeds of farm animals, viii -\- 820 p., 1 pL, 368 fig. Ginn & 

 Co.: Boston & London, 1920. — This book is in four parts: Part I is devoted to the various 

 breeds of horses, the ass, and the mule ; part II, to cattle ; part III, to sheep and goats ; and par t 

 IV, to swine. — The following breeds of horses are discussed in part I: The Arab, Thorough- 

 bred, American Saddle Horse, American Trotter and Pacer, Hackney, French Coach, German 

 Coach, Cleveland Bay, Percheron, French Draft, Belgian, Shire, Suffolk, Ponies, Shetland. — 

 The breeds of cattle discussed in part II are : Shorthorn, Polled Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen 

 Angus, Galloway, West Highland, Jersey, Holstein-Friesian, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Dutch 

 Belted, French Canadian, Kerry, Dexter, Red Polled, Brown Swiss, and the Devon. — The 

 breeds of sheep discussed in Part III are: Merino, American Merino, Delaine Merino, Ram- 

 bouillet. Southdown, Shropshire, Oxford Down, Hampshire Down, Dorset Horn, Cheviot, 

 Suffolk, Tunis, Leichester, Cotswold, Lincoln, Romney Marsh, Black-faced Highland, Corrie- 

 dale, Karakul, Angora Goat, and the Milch Goat. — The breeds of swine discussed in Part IV 

 are: Merkshire, Duroc- Jersey, Poland-China, Chester White, Hampshire, Mule-Foot, Large 

 Black, Cheshire, Small Yorkshire, Essex, Large Yorkshire, and the Tamworth. — Chapters 

 are devoted to descriptions of the light harness, the heavy harness, and the draft horse type; 

 to the beef, the dairy, and the dual-purpose type cattle; to the fine-wool and the mutton type 

 sheep ; and to the lard type and the bacon type of pig. — Some idea of the scope of the discussion 

 of each breed may be gained from the following outline of the chapter on the Percheron horse . 

 The Native home of the Percheron horse, the origin of the Percheron breed, the improvement 

 of the early Percheron, theearly type of Percheron, Percheron deterioration, the type of Perch- 

 eron about 1877, the improvement of the Percheron in France, the introduction of the 

 Percheron to the United States, the characteristics of the Percheron horse, the color of the 

 Percheron, the weight and height of the Percheron, the temperament of the Percheron, the 

 maturing quality of the Percheron, cross-bred or grade Percherons, the prolificacy of the 

 Percheron, famous Percheron sires, the leading Percheron shows, Percheron futurity shows, 

 the prices paid for Percherons, Percheron geldings, the distribution of the Percheron horse, 

 the distribution of Percherons in the United States, organizations for promoting Percheron 

 horses, American Percheron horse associations. — R. R. Graves. 



118. Pomona. The pollination of fruit blossoms. Gard. Chron. 69: 150-151. 1921. — 

 It is stated that forms of Mains are in great measure sterile, and several examples are cited 

 of barren trees becoming fruitful when the blossoms were artificially pollinated with pollen 

 from other varieties, or when supplied with pollen from trees of other varieties planted in 

 close proximitj'. The author warns against planting large blocks of single varieties and 

 advocates mixed planting. — C. S. Crandall. 



119. Reid, G. Archdall. Biological terminology. Nature 107: 265-266. 1921. — The 

 author replies to Cunningham (Nature 106: 828. 1921). — 0. A. Stevens. 



