VARIATIONS IN SUNFLOWER SEEDLINGS (Fig. 13.) 



cyanins, is obli<j:cd to conclude: "The 

 pigment is produced, of necessity, in 

 tissues where the conditions are such 

 that the chemical reactions leading to 

 anthocyanin formation are bound to 

 take place. For the time being we 

 may safely say that it has not been 

 satisfactorily determined in any one 

 case whether its development is either 

 an advantage or a disadvantage to the 

 plant." 



As regards the other matter, the 

 characters observed are evidently in- 

 herited like other characters, and appear 

 to segregate in a mendelian manner, as 

 shown by the occurrence of both normal 

 and variant types, without interme- 

 diates, in two cultures. In Holland, 

 deVries had a race of sunflowers j^roduc- 

 ing syncotylous seedlings, with the two 

 cotyledons united. He found that the 



character was inherited, though he 

 could not isolate a pure race. Thus 

 the peculiarities of these seedlings must 

 be due to germinal facto''S, or deter- 

 miners, which cannot be confined to the 

 seedling stage; yet the manifestation of 

 their effects may be limited to that 

 stage. Just as in insects (moths and 

 beetles, for example) the larvae may 

 show marked differences, while the 

 adults are apparently alike; so in plants 

 the seedling stage may be the only one 

 in which the existence of particular 

 hereditary factors is revealed. On the 

 other hand, the seedling characters 

 may be obviously correlated with adult 

 ones, and it is not impossible that, 

 sometimes, the failure to observe any 

 correlation is due to a lack of similarity 

 between the effects produced at differ- 

 ent ages. 



A Book for Family History 



OURSELVES, A personal and family history 

 register for preserving records of a private and 

 personal nature, for one married coujjle and 

 their children. By John Madison Tavlor, A. B., 

 M.D: Quarto, price S.S.OO net. Philadelphia: 

 F. A. Davis Company, 1917. 



There has long been a need for a 

 book in which families could record 

 their pedigree and family traits, and 

 Dr. Taylor's large volume can be recom- 

 mended for this jjurjjose. It has amjjle 

 .S])ace for genealogical charts and data, 

 and provides blanks and suggestions 



362 



for making a com])lete record of the 

 development of children. It is free 

 from over-elaboration of detail, although 

 amply full, and its simplicity ought to 

 appeal to many parents. The value of 

 keeping such a family record as this is 

 recognized by every eugenist, but it is 

 probable that few have put their con- 

 victions into practice. With Dr. Tay- 

 lor's "family account book" available, 

 one of the ])rineii)al excuses for not keep- 

 ing a ]jro]jer family record is removed. 



