32 



The Journal of Heredity 



describe. It seems likely thai if a 

 more general interest is aroused in the 

 im])ortance of this matter that some 

 valuable information can be secured 

 from constantly occurrinj^j variations in 

 corn which will be of scientific interest 

 and possibly of j^ractical value in the 

 study of the improvement of corn varie- 

 ties through seed selection and breeding. 

 It seems to the writer that observers 

 should be urged, u]')on finding interesting 

 cases of corn varietions, to send them to 



the State University, or to the Federal 

 Department of Agriculture, or to other 

 institutions where the subject of plant 

 breeding is being investigated. Tliis 

 effort, the writer Ijelieves, will tend to 

 increase the interest of corn growers or 

 others in a more careful observation of 

 the corn crojis, and this more intense 

 observation may also lead to a better and 

 more careful selection of valuable seed 

 ears for projxigation than is ordinarilv 

 the case. 



Organic Evolution from a Paleontologist's Point of View 



ORGANIC EVOLUTION, by Richard 

 Swann Lull, Ph.D., professor of vcrtehnte 

 paleontology in Yale University. Pp. 729, with 

 253 text iijjurcs and .?0 j)lates; price S3. 00. 

 The Macmillan Co., 66 Fifth avenue, New 

 York City, 1917. 



Professor Lull's very comprehensive 

 work will be welcomed by students of 

 evolution who want in accessible form 

 the facts in the family history of ani- 

 mals. Whether it be an elephant or 

 an insect, the ancestry can here be 

 learned with a minimtmi of search, and 

 all geneticists owe the author a vote 

 of thanks for his critical compilation. 

 They will, however, quarrel with him 

 frequently over the more general part of 

 the book, in which variation, heredity, 

 and the methods of evolution are de- 



scribed. This has a peculiarly anti- 

 quated air, suggesting the biological 

 literature of a generation ago, and 

 shows little knowledge of the modern 

 work in heredity which, as many 

 students think, has thrown more light 

 on evolution in 20 years than the pro- 

 ceeding half century had given. It 

 would not be fair to condemn Dr. Lull 

 too severely for the inadequacy of his 

 biological discussion, for he writes 

 primarily as a j)aleontologist. But at 

 least it is necessary that those who 

 read the book — and they will be many 

 — should be on their guard. Apart 

 from this, the book can be warmly 

 commended and will ]jrobably not fail 

 to gain the wide circulation it deserves. 



Alcohol as a "Racial Poison" 



It is widely supjjosed that alcohol is 

 a "racial ]X)ison," that is, that it can 

 so affect the germ-])lasm of an indi- 

 vidual as to originate defect or degen- 

 eracy in the individual's ofTsj^ring. 

 But the evidence is contradictory. 

 The widely-known experiments of 

 diaries R. Stockard (see Joiknal oi- 

 IIkkkditv, Vol. V, I). 5<S) indicate that 

 it affected the progeny of guinea-i)igs; 

 but Raymond I\-arl found no marked 

 evidence of defects in the offs])ring of 

 alcoholized fowls; nor is there any ade- 

 quate proof that alcohol produces de- 

 fects in the ofTsjjring of the man who 

 drinks it. L. B. Nice re])orted in 

 1911 that white mice were not mark- 



edly aftected when alcohol was given 

 in their food; but in the light of Dr. 

 Stockard's ex]jeriments he determined 

 to repeat his own, administering the 

 narcotic b\" inlialalion instead of in 

 the food. The results are described 

 in the American Xatiiralist, Oct., 1917. 

 The study is small in extent but so far 

 as it goes does not show any serious 

 efTect of alcohol either on fertility, 

 vigor of growth, or \iability. Pro- 

 fessor Nice ])oints out that guinea- 

 ])igs are i)arlicularly sensitive animals, 

 and that it is a mistake to draw con- 

 clusions from th(.-ni and ap])l\" them too 

 sweepingh' to other species. 



