i6o 



The Journal of Heredity 



of macaroni and semolina. The Tan- 

 gier pea, a relative of the sweet pea 

 native in northern Africa and received 

 through Dr. Trabut, is reported, by 

 Professor C. V. Piper, as giving won- 

 derfully heayy^ yields on the Pacific 

 Coast, and if means can be found to 

 improve its seed production it bids 

 fair to become an important forage 

 plant in that part of the United States. 

 Not the least interesting of the 

 plants received from Dr. Trabut is 

 the Athel or Evergreen Tamarisk, a 

 tree native in the Sahara Desert. This 

 plant was introduced with the co-opera- 

 tion of Professor J. J. Thornber, 

 Director of the Arizona State Experi- 

 ment Station, who supplied material 

 for trial at the U. S. Government Date 

 Garden at Indio, Calif. To Mr. Bruce 

 Drummond, Superintendent of the 

 Date Garden, belongs the credit of 

 having recognized that the Athel is 

 peculiarly suitable for the creation of 

 windbreaks in the Colorado Desert 

 region, because of its wonderfully 

 rapid growth. Eighteen months after 

 the cuttings were planted the trees 

 had reached a height of 20 feet and 



when 5 years old some of them were 

 50 feet high and from 14 to 19 inches 

 in diameter at the base of the trunk. 

 An ideal plant for the protection of 

 orchards, fields and homes against the 

 sand-laden winds of the southwestern 

 deserts had been found at last. So 

 prompt was the recognition of this 

 fact that within 5 years after the first 

 planting of the Athel at Indio it was 

 estimated that 25,000 cuttings had 

 been set out in that vicinity. Rapid 

 growth is by no means the only merit 

 of this tamarisk, for it is highly orna- 

 mental and the wood not only sup- 

 plies excellent fuel, but is said to be of 

 value for construction purposes. Had 

 Trabut made no other contribution 

 to American agriculture, our debt to 

 him for this would be no small one. 



Great as is the value, actual or po- 

 tential, of the plants introduced or 

 bred by Dr. Trabut, the inspiration of 

 his career is after all his greatest gift to 

 humanity. He has set a priceless 

 example in devoting his brilliant, 

 highly-trained, well-stored mind to the 

 lifelong ser\'ice of his countrymen and 

 of all mankind. 



Biology vs. Bolshevism 



The Revolt Against Civilization: 

 The Menace of the Underman, 

 by Lothrop Stoddard. Pp. 274. 

 Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 

 1922. 



The increasing complexity of civiliza- 

 tion, and the production, for reasons 

 well understood by eugenists, of a large 

 body of inferior people in every civil- 

 ized community, are the fundamental 

 factors underlying revolution, in Dr. 

 Stoddard's opinion. Hating a society 

 which they realize they are unable to 

 enter, the "Under-Men" naturally 

 attempt to destroy it, in order to estab- 

 lish a state of affairs where they may 

 feel themselves more at home. Nearly 

 half the volume is taken up by an ex- 

 position of the basic principles of 



eugenics; the remainder is given over 

 to a description of the revolutionary 

 movement, particularly as represented 

 by Bolshevism, Syndicalisin, and the 

 I.W.W., — three different names, Dr. 

 Stoddard believes, for the same thing. 

 From this point of view, the way to 

 avoid revolution is to adopt such eu- 

 genic measures as will decrease the 

 production of men and women of in- 

 ferior mentality. This bald s^mopsis 

 cannot do justice to the vivid, at 

 times sensational, presentation of the 

 facts which Dr. Stoddard has written 

 and which, it is safe to say, will lead 

 many people to think of social prob- 

 lems in terms of correct biology who 

 have never done so before. The book 

 deserves, and will unquestionably get, 

 wide circulation. — P. P. 



