448 



The Journal of Heredity 



which is different from any position 

 assumed in the daytime. (See Fig. 8.) 

 At night the blades fall to a vertical 

 position, the petiole remaining in the 

 position common under diffused light 

 except that the distal end bends slightly 

 downward. The tissue of the blade 

 between the primary veins folds a 

 little outward and the tips of the lobes 

 come closer together. The tips of the 

 lobes may curl slightly toward the 

 petiole, especially if the night tem- 

 perature is considerably lower than 

 that of the day. This night position 

 is similar to that assumed by leaves 

 that have become wilted, except that 

 severely wilted leaves fold the lobes 

 even closer together. The great differ- 

 ence is the condition of the tissue; at 

 night the leaf is in a state of turgidity 

 even greater than at any time during 

 the day, while the wilted leaves are 

 flaccid. 



Under the influence of intense light 

 acting for a considerable time, the 

 leaves of the cotton plant often wilt or 

 lose their turgor. The blade falls to a 

 vertical position, with lobes deeply 

 grooved or folded. The wilted condi- 

 tion is similar to that of a leaf that has 

 been separated from the plant and is 

 suffering for want of moisture. When 

 in this condition transpiration is ap- 



parently checked and the leaf is in a 

 state of rest. 



Ordinarily only the distal pulvinus is 

 affected when the leaves wilt. The 

 upper part of the petiole curves down- 

 ward and the blade remains in a droop- 

 ing position until the light diminishes 

 or a new supply of moisture is obtained. 

 In some cases, however, the whole 

 petiole becomes limp and falls with the 

 rest of the leaf, though this seldom 

 happens unless the light remains in- 

 tense for a considerable length of time 

 and the soil moisture is nearly ex- 

 hausted. When a plant becomes w-ilted 

 in this manner it is generally affected 

 to such an extent that the leaves may 

 never recover. 



If light becomes less intense before 

 sundown on account of cloudiness or 

 for any other reason and a supply of 

 moisture can be obtained from the 

 soil, the tissue again fills with water 

 and becomes turgid. The leaf then 

 returns to the typical day position 

 common under light conditions. (See 

 Fig. 9. ) After sundown the leaf gradu- 

 ally droops to the night position. When 

 the light has continued intense through- 

 out the day and the leaves have re- 

 mained in the wilted state until 

 nightfall, they retain the same relative 

 position in the dark but soon become 

 turgid. 



The Delinquency of Women 



A Study of Women DELiNguiiXTs in- 

 New York State, by Mabel R. 

 Fernald, Mary H. S. Hayes, and 

 Almena Dawley, with a statistical 

 chapter by Beardsley Ruml and a 

 preface by Katherine Bement Davis. 

 Pp. 542, with 225 tables and 46 

 charts. The Century Co., New 

 York, 1920. 



This study of 102 commitments at 

 the state reformatory, Bedford Hills, 

 N. Y., and comparable numbers from 

 five other sources, is the most careful 

 and detailed piece of work that has 

 been done on the subject. The heredi- 

 tary aspects are perhaps handletl less 

 satisfactorily than any others, such 

 traits as alcoholism, suicide, criminal 

 record, psychopathic condition, sexual 

 irregularity, tuberculosis, venereal dis- 

 ea.ses and nomadism being thrown in 

 together under this heading. More 

 attention was paid to the social and 



educational background, and to the 

 mental status of the offender. A 

 cautious summary concludes that in- 

 ferior economic background and some- 

 w^hat inferior mentality are particularly 

 characteristic of the women delinquents 

 studied; all of which connotes poor 

 home conditions, inadequate education, 

 and industrial inefficiency. Further 

 investigation might ha\e shown that 

 all these characteristics belong to a 

 germinally inferior stock. Table 75, 

 purporting to show that first-l)orn 

 children are in excess among delin- 

 quents, is l)ased on an elementary 

 statistical fallacy, ignoring the fact 

 that there are ine\'itably more first-born 

 children than any other kind in the 

 whole jiopulation. But despite minor 

 defects the \()hnne remains a worthy 

 moiumient to the Bureau of Social 

 H\giene, and an indispt'iisable work of 

 reft-rence to those interestt-d in deliii- 

 quenc)'. — P. P. 



