The "Melting Pot" a Myth 



105 



which run down even through six or 

 eight generations, is one of the remark- 

 able results brought out by the study. 

 If the process could continue for a few 

 hundred years more, Dr. Hrdlicka 

 thinks, it might reach a point where 



one could speak of the members of old 

 American famihes as of a distinct stock. 

 But so far this point has not been 

 reached; the Americans are almost as 

 diverse and variable, it appears, as were 

 their first ancestors in this country. 



Progress of Plant Breeding in Italy 



Systematic plant -breeding, principally 

 with cereals, is being carried on in ten 

 different places in Italy, with satis- 

 factory results. Most of the work is 

 modeled on that of the Swedish station 

 of Svalof. Dr. G. Patane, of the Italian 

 Ministry of Agriculture, contributes a 

 review of the work in the International 

 Review of the Science and Practice of 

 Agriculture (Rome, June, 1916), in which 

 he enumerates the following stations: 



1. Royal Experiment Station for 

 Cereal Culture, Rieti, directed by N. 

 Strampelli. Important work has been 

 done with wheat during the past ten 

 years; valuable strains have been isol- 

 ated, and much hybridization done. 

 Species and genus crosses have resulted 

 in some novelties such as Triticuni 

 giganteum, a wheat the grains of which 

 are almost equal in size to coffee beans. 

 Barley, oats, maize, rye, pulses, pota- 

 toes, pumpkins, tomatoes, alfalfa, and 

 other crops have been the object of 

 work. 



2. Bolognese Cooperative Society for 

 the Production of Agricultural Seeds, 

 directed by Prof. Todaro. It is furnish- 

 ing varieties of wheat, maize and barley 

 particularly adapted to local conditions. 



3. Royal Agricultural Station, Mo- 

 dena, directed by G. Lo Priore. Most 

 of its work is with wheat. 



4. Royal Agricultural College, Milan. 

 Prof. Ugo Brizi is studying cleistogamy 

 and parthenogenesis from the standpoint 



of genetics, especially in the Cruciferae 

 and Chenopodiaceas. Cereals and 

 Leguminosae are being bred on Men- 

 delian lines. Dr. P. Venino has been 

 isolating pure lines of wheat. 



5. Royal Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, Perugia. The director, A. 

 Vivenza, has been carrying on selection 

 work since 1900, and for six years has 

 been selecting in a strain which appears 

 to be furnishing constantly small muta- 

 tions, so that it can be modified by 

 persistent selection. 



6. Royal Botanical Garden, Palermo, 

 Sicily. Director A. Borzi. Here Dr. 

 Tropea has been trying to produce a 

 variety of wheat resistant to seasonal 

 changes, and also studying the coefficient 

 of density, influence of origin of seeds on 

 acclimatization, inheritance of acquired 

 characters, etc. 



7. Royal School of Practical Agri- 

 culture, Andria. Director L. Vivarelli 

 is working with local varieties of wheat. 



8. Vegni Agricultural Institute, 

 Barullo, director D. Vigiani. Selection 

 has been made of strains of wheat, oats, 

 maize, beets, turnips, hemp, tobacco, 

 and forage plants. 



9. Agricultural Institute of Scandicci, 

 Florence, founded and directed by 

 Prof. Passerini. Selection of wheat. 



10. Experiment Station for Rice Cul- 

 ture, Vercelli, director, N. Novelli. 

 Pedigree culture of native and imported 

 rice. 



The Treatment of Criminals 



Emphasizing the need for more biol- 

 ogy in dealing with crime, Dr. Paul M. 

 Bowers told the last meeting of the 

 American Prison Association about his 

 study of 100 recidivists, each of whom 

 had been convicted not fewer than four 

 times. Of these twelve were insane, 

 twenty-three feebleminded, and ten epi- 

 leptic, according to his findings, and in 



each case, he said, the mental defective- 

 ness bore a direct causal relation to the 

 crime committed. Other speakers 

 agreed that those who have to deal with 

 criminals should give more attention to 

 the heredity and actual physical and 

 mental condition of offenders; that 

 they should study the natures of men, 

 instead of only legal precedents. 



