1917] AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 629 



sidered more comprehensively in dealing with problems distinct from the tme 

 here discussed (B. S. R., 31, p. 523). The results as tabulated are discxissed 

 in connection with some obtained by other investigators. 



It is stated that the average homotypic value for ovules in Cercis is dis- 

 tinctly higher than the comparable values for other species hitherto ade- 

 quately investigated, the mean values for seeds being about the same as those 

 found by English investigators. The correlation of ovules falling is lower. 

 The homotypic correlation for seeds matured per pod is statistically largely 

 a resultant of the homotypic correlation for o^alles and the organic correlation 

 for ovules and seeds of the same pod. There are supposed to be independent 

 ecological and physiological factors tending to differentiate individuals with 

 respect to capacity for seed production. The general rule for fertility char- 

 acters in Leguminosse apparently is that the maximum value of the homotypic 

 correlation is the same as that for number of ovules per pod, much lower values 

 being found for matured seeds or abortive ovules per pod. The author be- 

 lieves that the evidence also points in the direction of a lower correlation for 

 ovules than for the more truly vegetative characters of the plant. 



Inheritance in crosses between Nicotiana langsdorffii and M". alata, B. M. 

 Bast {Genetics, 1 (1916), No. 4, pp. 311-833, figs. iO).— Reporting on a study of 

 a fertile cross between N. langsdorffii and N. alata grandiflo-ra, each uniform 

 in its characters, tlie results being the same without regard to the direction 

 in which the cross was made, the author states that while the Fi populations 

 are as uniform as the parents, the Fj are nearly three times as variable as 

 the Fi plants. Individuals reproducing N. langsdorffii were found in the F» 

 generation, certain of these F2 individuals reproducing their own form in tbe 

 Fa generation. No Fj individuals reproducing N. alata grandiflora were 

 found, but F2 plants approaching this type were produced. Galtonian re- 

 gression occurred, but selected extremes regressed no more than those deviating 

 moderately from the parental mean. Individuals from the same point on the 

 F2 curve showed different variabilities in the Fj generation, such variations 

 being always smaller than those of the F2 families. 



The above conclusions, based upon corolla measurements, appear to be true 

 also for other characters, except that in respect of such other characters, N. 

 alata grandiflora types were reproduced. Corolla color and pollen color are said 

 to show Mendel i an inheritance, and this is considered to be the only logical 

 interpretation of the other phenomena. 



Linkage in Primula sinensis, E. Altenbueg (Genetics, 1 (1916), No. 4, pp. 

 354-366). — The author claims to have found that crossovers between the pairs 

 of linked factors long or short style and red or magenta flower, respectively, 

 take place without reference to the crossovers between the pairs of linked 

 factors red or magenta flower color and red stigma or green stigma, respec- 

 tively; that is, there is no interference. Single anthers and single ovaries 

 of the heterozygous individuals produce all classes of gametes. Reduction of 

 factors must therefore accompany cell divisions occurring within many or ail 

 the anthers and ovaries. The proportions of the various gametic classes of 

 linked factors are about the same for the anthers and the ovaries. 



Some correlations in sugar beets, F. S. Harris and J. C. Hogenson (Genetics, 

 1 (1916). No. 4, pp. 334-347). — This is a study of correlations in sugar beets 

 between the several characters in order, if possible, to obtain short cuts in 

 the process of improvement of desirable qualities. The tables given show corre- 

 lations which, omitting decimal variations, may be expressed as follows: 

 Weight of beet with percentage of sugar, —0.2878 ; percentage of sugar in the 

 mother beet with quantity of seed produced, 0.0049 ; height of plants with weight 

 of seed produced, 0.3985; weight of the mother plant with quantity of seed 



