42 GENETICS [BoT. Absts., Vol. VIII, 



274. Hromadko, J. Die Variabilitat der Nachkommenschaft derselben Futterrixben- 

 mutter in der 1. Generation. [The variability of progenies of single mother beets in the first 

 generation.] Zeitschr. Zuckerindust. Bohmen 42: 581-601. 1918. — Author presents data 

 on progeny of a single pedigree mother beet (fodder type) that had been isolated in 

 gauze, and compares them with similar observations of Andrlik and Urban on sugar beet. 

 For fodder-beets coefficients of variability for weight of root, weight of foliage, dry sub- 

 stance of root, and sugar content were respectively 39.7, 35.0, 9.57, and 16.31. In case of 

 sugar-beet the corresponding characteristics gave coefficients of variability, respectively, 

 of 28.46, 32.4, 6.88, and 6.02. Author attributes greater variability of sugar content in former 

 to fact that selection for that is much more recent. [From anonymous review in Zeitschr. 

 Pflanzenzucht. 6: 189-190. Dec, 1918.]— James P. Kelly. 



275. Huxley, Julian S. Note on an alternating preponderance of males and females in fish, 

 and its possible significance. Jour. Genetics 10 : 265-276. 1920. — In a stock of fish {Girardinus 

 poeciloides) , according to records of E. G. Boulenger, the ratio of females to males for nearly 

 a year was 3:1. Later, this ratio among the young produced changed to 2 9 :3cf for a few 

 weeks, after which the numbers of the two sexes became approximately equal and remained 

 so for several years. On the basis of this case and data from other sources, Huxley argues 

 that the most probable explanation is to assume (1) that the male in this fish is the hetero- 

 zygous sex having formula XY, the female being XX; (2) that a certain proportion of the 

 individuals of genetic composition XY became somatic females (= feminized males), owing 

 to the action of some unknown environmental influence; (3) that such "somatic" females 

 produced X and Y eggs, which, by fertilization with X and Y spermatozoa, gave rise in the 

 next generation to a preponderance of males (XY), the YY zygotes being assumed to be 

 non-viable. — F. B. Sumner. 



276. Ireland, Alleyne. Democracy and heredity — a reply. Jour. Heredity 10: 360-367. 

 1919. — A brief summary of an article by the writer (Democracy and the accepted facts of hered- 

 ity. Jour. Heredity 9:339-342. 1918) is followed by a discussion of criticisms offered by 

 Edwin G. Conklin, Madison Grant, Prescott F. Hall, O. F. Cook, and Robert Carter 

 Cook (see May and June, 1919, issues of Jour. Heredity). Author's attitude was that "with 

 few exceptions, the best governed countries were those in which the mass of people had the 

 least control over the administration of public afiairs." His "dissent from the conventional 

 view of democracy .... as a sound, political principle was based upon four main 

 considerations: (a) That the individual and not the mass has been the main source of human 

 advancement; (b) that mental and moral traits in the individual are derived chiefly from 

 heredity and not from environment; (c) that acquired characteristics are not inheritable;" 

 and (d) that assortative mating, encouraged in a democracy, tends to drain the lower classes 

 of talent and genius and increase these qualities in the upper classes. Discussing the criti- 

 cisms he continues: "the real issue, when stripped of all dialectical trappings, is whether 

 good government depends ultimately upon good human qualities or upon good political 

 macliinery. If it depends chiefly upon the former," as author seems to believe, "all dis- 

 cussions of government must be founded in biology." In defense of his postulate of assorta- 

 tive mating he presents data from the works of Havelock Ellis and Frederick Adams 

 Woods which show "that over a period of several centuries there has occurred a striking and 

 progressive decline in the cultural contribution from the 'lower' classes" in the face of increas- 

 ing democratic opportunity. He closes his discussion by a brief comparison of social con- 

 ditions under several forms of government which is unfavorable to the democracy, and empha- 

 sizes the importance of drawing a distinction between "administration" and "policy." — 

 Howard J. Banker. 



211 . Kappert, H. Untersuchungen iiber den Merkmalskomplex glatte-runzlige Samen- 

 oberflache bei der Erbse. [Studies on the character-complex smooth-wrinkled surface of peas.] 

 Zeitschr. Indukt. Abstamm.- u. Vererb. 24: 185-210. 5 jig. 1920. 



