Higgins: The White-Barked Pine 
would form an attractive addition to 
any park or estate. There is a feeling 
of awe and mystery inspired by the 
flashes of brilliant white through a 
shadowed grove such as might arise if 
elves were lighting fox-fire by day. 
The fact that the trees are planted 
principally about grave sites does not 
tend to lessen this feeling. 
Besides being used for ornamental 
purposes around graves, they are also 
to be found in many of the temple 
grounds which abound on the plain 
around Peking and nestle in the moun- 
tains west of the city. I have seen no 
trees not planted by man, but I have 
heard that this tree grows wild in the 
low mountains west of Paotingfu, some 
401 
distance southwest of Peking. The 
species seems to be one nearly extinct, 
and which thrives only in narrow cli- 
matic limits. Its introduction into the 
United States would be worth while 
attempting, however. Mr. Meyer has 
superintended the securing of one of 
these trees which has been placed over 
the grave of W. W. Rockhill, late 
United States minister to China. 
The Chinese name of the white- 
barked pine is “pai kuo sung,’ pro- 
nounced locally about Peking, “pai- 
kuor-sung,” ‘‘the white fruit-pine.” 
This name is due to its white bark, and 
to the use of the seeds as a delicacy and 
in confections. 
On the Proportion 
Discussing ‘‘Defect in germ-plasm as 
a cause of delinquency” in an editorial 
in the July issue of the Journal of 
Delinquency, Thomas H. Haines, direc- 
tor of the Ohio Bureau of Juvenile 
Research, concludes that 25% is about 
the limit of feeblemindedness that can 
be found in any unselected delinquent 
population—for example, the inmates 
of a penitentiary or reform school. 
Feebleminded is here used to mean that 
“they are so poorly endowed with in- 
telligence that they are unable to 
manage themselves and their affairs 
with prudence.” Better tests are 
of ‘‘Born Criminals’’ 
needed, Dr. Haines says, to get at 
the mentality of the rest of the de- 
linquents. ‘‘That there is mental ab- 
normality of some sort underlying 
the moral perversion, in a large per- 
centage of not insane and not feeble- 
minded delinquents, we are free to 
grant. » But -there: is) much, ‘ab- 
normal mentality that is not due to 
defect in germ-plasm.” This, Dr. 
Haines thinks, is the result of bad 
education, and can be corrected in 
many cases by proper treatment. For 
the hereditarily defective mind, little 
can be done. 
The Inheritance of Feeblemindedness 
In the May and July issues of the 
Journal of Delinquency, Arthur S. Otis, 
of Stanford University compares the 
conflicting views on the manner in 
which feeblemindedness is inherited. 
There can be no doubt but that heredity 
is to a large extent accountable for 
different degrees in brightness;- the 
question is whether or not these different 
degrees of brightness can be said to be 
inherited as Mendelian unit characters. 
After reviewing the conflicting views, 
Otis concludes that no good case has 
yet been made out by the Mendelists, 
and that while Mendelian heredity of 
degrees of intelligence is easily conceiv- 
able, it cannot be proved until we have 
more knowledge of the development of 
the mind, and better means of measuring 
our quantities. 
1 The office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, United States Department of Agriculture, 
has sent out seedlings of this pine (Inventory No. 41954) secured by Mr. Meyer, and these are 
now growing at various places in the United States. 
Dr. C. S. Sargent is growing in the Arnold Arboretum, Boston. 
A large specimen introduced earlier by 
It does not show the white- 
barked character, and it is quite possible that this will only appear on specimens grown in a dry 
climate. The Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction will be glad to correspond with 
anyone who wishes to grow this pine in the United States.—THE EDITOR. 
