NOTES. 627 



breeding, it was stated, sometimes facilitates the creation of desirable breeds, for it 

 serves to induce new mutation, which in some cases is progressive, in others regressive. 



"On the whole, it appears that the formation of new breeds begins with the dis- 

 covery of an exceptional individual, or the production of such an individual, by 

 means of crossbreeding. .Such exceptional individuals are mutations. An exami- 

 nation of stock registers points in the same direction." The few generations which 

 the breeder usually employs in "fixing" or establishing the breed, and during 

 which he practices close breeding, serve principally to free the stock of undesirable 

 alternative characters, not to modify the characters retained. "Modification of char- 

 acters by selection, when sharply alternative conditions (i. e., mutations) are not 

 present in the stock, is an exceedingly difficult and slow process, and its results of 

 1 1 nest ionable permanency. ' ' 



In so-called improved breeds, supposed to have been produced by this process, it 

 was stated as more probable that the result represents the summation of a series of 

 mutations rather than of a series of ordinary fluctuating variations; for mutations 

 are permanent, while variations are transitory. ''Mutations have an internal origin 

 in the hereditary substance itself. They are relatively independent of the environ- 

 ment, being affected only by such causes as affect the nature of the hereditary sub- 

 stance itself, one of which apparently is crossbreeding." 



The closing paragraph of the paper suggests a line of research. The writer says: 

 "There are, however, frequently found in breeds of domesticated animals conditions 

 which are not sharply alternative in heredity to the corresponding characters of other 

 breeds. It is an open question whether such conditions could be maintained if 

 crossbreeding were freely allowed with animals of a different character. If not, they 

 could scarcely become racial characters under the action of natural selection. The 

 race would then become, not sharply dimorphic or polymorphic, as is the case 

 where inheritance is sharply alternative, but subject to extremely great fluctuating 

 variations. It is an open question whether blending characters of this sort, found 

 in many breeds, may not have been created by selection from masses of fluctuating 

 variations. It will be important to know further whether or not these extreme fluc- 

 tuating series have hail their origin in mutations." 



American Forest Congress. — This congress, held in the National Rifles Armory 

 and National Theatre, at Washington, January 2-6, was attended by about 800 dele- 

 gates in addition to numerous visitors. The meetings were held under the auspices 

 of the American Forestry Association. Altogether, about 50 papers were read and 

 discussed, in addition to a number of addresses by Members of Congress, foreign 

 representatives, and men prominent in National affairs. 



Several things conspired to make the congress the most important one of its kind 

 ever held in America. It was to a large extent a congress of forest users. There 

 was great interest and enthusiasm throughout the meetings, due in a measure to the 

 mere presence of numbers of delegates and visitors interested in the general prob- 

 lems of forestry. Distinguished representatives of all branches of industry and 

 science which are intimately concerned in the preservation and use of the forest 

 were gathered together for the discussion of ways and means. The programme of 

 the meetings was arranged in a natural and logical sequence, in order to allow these 

 cooperative factors to be properly presented. There were special sessions devoted to 

 the relation of forest lands to irrigation, lumber industries in the forests, grazing 

 industries in the forests, the relation of railroads to the forests, forest lands and 

 mining, and National and State forest policies. Irrigation experts, foresters, lum- 

 bermen, stock raisers, railroad presidents, miners, and forest supervisors all met on 

 common ground and discussed the problems in which each was most concerned in 

 such a manner that the desire of cooperation between all these factors was apparent. 



The keynote of the congress was sounded by the President in his address at the 

 National Theater. This was that the forests are to be preserved for use. It was 



