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special attention to new plant material likely to prove of interest 
or value for studies in plant breeding. 
During 1921, Dr. Ralph C. Benedict, resident investigator, has 
continued his investigations in connection with variation in the fern 
genus Nephrolepis, particularly with respect to the cultivated form 
known as the Boston Fern. In this connection, he has completed, 
for publication, a second paper on “ The Origin of New Varieties 
of Nephrolepis by Orthogenetic Saltation, II. Regressive Varia- 
tion, etc.,”. which will appear in the March issue of the American 
Journal of Botany, and as Contribution No. 27 of the Brooklyn 
Botanic Garden. 
A second type of related work was represented in the prepara- 
tion, during August and September, of an exhibit of Nephrolepis 
varieties which were entered, together with a considerable number 
of ferns of other genera from the general collection of the Botanic 
Garden, at the annual Fern Show of the Massachusetts Horticul- 
tural Society, held in Boston, September 22-25, 1921. Together 
with the ferns, a large wall chart, summarizing the variation of 
Nephrolepis, was sent for exhibition. An eight-page pamphlet 
was prepared which the Massachusetts Horticultural Society had 
printed for free distribution at the show, and a lecture, illustrated 
by over 50 lantern slides, mostly representing the Brooklyn Botanic 
Garden collections, was delivered at Horticultural Hall, Boston, 
September 24. The exhibit was installed at Boston by Mr. Free 
and Dr. Benedict on September 21. 
Special plans for labeling the collection of living ferns, for ob- 
taining the cooperation of horticultural publications, and for the 
exchange of herbarium material with the U. S. National Museum, 
and with Dr. Liberty Hyde Bailey, were also carried out. 
During the spring and early summer experiments were begun by 
the director of the Garden to ascertain the possibility, or otherwise, 
of altering inheritance by exposing the germ-cells of plants to the 
rays from radium emanation. Significant positive results were 
obtained, pointing the way to further lines of investigation, but 
more definite announcement is reserved until the work has been 
carried beyond the preliminary stage. Grateful acknowledgment 
is here made to the authorities of the Memorial Hospital, New 
