Vererbung, Variation, Mutation. 133 



der Artbildung kommt Verf. in demselben Sinne wie 1911 zu sprechen. Es würde 

 zu weit führen, die polemischen Kapitel hier ausführlich wiederzugeben. Er 

 wirft Nilsson-Ehle sowie Tammes Willkürlichkeiten in der Deutung der Ver- 

 suchsergebnisse vor und kommt zu dem Schluß, daß das — an sich nicht zu ver- 

 werfende — Prinzip der Polymerie nicht genüge, um diese Fälle restlos auf das 

 Mendelsche Schema zurückzuführen; vielmehr handele es sich um intermediäre 

 Vererbung. — ■ Ein abschließendes Kapitel ist der Kritik der Methodik der 

 modernen Vererbungslehre gewidmet. Es zieht, wobei es ohne Schärfen nicht 

 abgeht, gegen die nach der Meinung des Verf. der modernen Forschungsrichtung 

 eigene Überschätzung des Experiments zu Felde („Im Mäusestall und im Ge- 

 müsegarten allein lassen sich die Geheimnisse der schöpferischen Natur nicht 

 entschleiern"), verurteilt ihre allzu deduktive Methodik und empfiehlt ihr von 

 neuem ausgiebige vergleichende Naturbeobachtung. Koehler (z. Z. Neapel). 



429) Bölsche, W.j Neue Tatsachen zum Geheimnis der Vererbung. In: Kos- 

 mos, Heft 2, S. 47—50; Heft 5, S. 157—161; Heft 8, S. 288—291; Heft 10, S. 383 bis 

 387, 1912 



In Anknüpfung an die rasaenhygienische Abteilung der Hygieneausstellung in Dresden 

 bespricht Verf. das Problem der Vererbung erworbener Eigenschaften. 



W. May (Karlsruhe). 



430) Keeble, F. and Armstrong, E. F. (Reading, University College), The 

 Role of Oxydases in the Formation of the Anthocyan Pigments of 

 Plauts. In: Jouru. of Genetics, 2, 3, S. 277—311, 1 plate, 1912. 



This paper gives a füll account of the work summarized previously (Proc. 

 Roy. Soc. 85 B, S. 214 ; this Zentralbl. Ref. Bd. 1, Nr. 1169). The object to be examined 

 for oxydase is treated with a weak alcoholic Solution of a-nephthol or benzidine 

 (details giveu). It is concluded (l) that the methods used give the distribution 

 of oxydases in the plant-tissues ; that though the oxydase is more widely distri- 

 buted than the chromogen, the distribution is in conformity with the oxydase- 

 chromogen hypothesis, but that inhibiting substances may sometimes obscure the 

 results. (2) In coloured and recessive white varieties of PrhnuJa sinensis oxydase 

 is present in the epidermis and bundle-sheaths of the petals, the oxydase in the 

 two situations reacting differently. Dominant white varieties and white areas on 

 certaiu coloured flowers contain an Inhibitor which may be removed, and the 

 reaction may then be obtained. In some albinos (e. g. Primiila, Lathyrus) albinism 

 is due to lack of chromogen, in others {G-eranium) to lack of oxydase; in Dian- 

 thus it may be due to lack of either. (3) Cells in which anthocyan is present 

 contain oxydase or peroxydase, and the oxydase content varies with external 

 conditions, such as light. Doncaster (Cambridge). 



431) Shaw, J. K., Heredity, Correlation and Variation in Garden Peas. 

 In: Mass. Agr. Expt. Stat., 24*'^ Ann. Rept., 1912. 



A progress report of biometrical studies on Variation and inheritance in 

 Pisum. The charactei's dealt with are vine length and number of pods per vine. 

 The results are held to indicate that some and perhaps all varieties of garden 

 peas are composed of strains which have different hereditary vine lengths, which 

 is in harmony with much of the recent investigation along these lines. They do 

 not, in the opiuion of the author, indicate that the progeny of each individual 

 under Observation form distinct units which may be distinguished from each 

 other, but rather that there are comparatively few distinguishable units composed 

 of individuals of equal hereditary value to be found within the limits of what 

 we commonly understand as a garden variety. 



