July 14, 192 1] 



NATURE 



^Z7 



the other, that a Mendelian mutation may produce 

 an alteration in habit as marked as that which charac- 

 terises the CEnothera forms with an extra chromo- 

 some. This being so, what becomes of the author's 

 scheme of classification? 



Ofganismal Characters. — ^The conception of or- 

 ganismal characters has been developed primarily, 

 apparently, to account for the phenomenon known as 

 recapitulation, i.e. the appearance in the individual of 

 ancestral structures in a reduced or functionless form. 

 In his treatment of this part of the subject the author 

 is not easy to follow. Much of the argument ad- 

 vanced appears, and is admitted, to be inconclusive. 

 The reader is left wondering why the "species cell" 

 concept which has sufficed as a basis of explanation 

 for karyogenetic mutations is here abandoned, and 

 why physiological considerations are ignored. The 

 essence of the conception of the "species cell" is, we 

 are told, that when a new form arises it does so in 

 consequence of some antecedent change in a (germ) 

 cell unit. The individual derived from such a mutated 

 germ-cell will exhibit the associated character in all 

 its parts. The reasoning from this point onwards 

 seems to be as follows : — If organisms were entirely 

 composed of such cell units, then germinal mutations 

 might supply the whole basis for evolution. But 

 regions or structures occur in the organism in which 

 the cell unit is ill-defined or non-existent, therefore 

 some other type of evolution must take place [! j It 

 does not appear, however, that it is in these regions 

 or structures that the postulated environmental effect 

 is felt. In fact, the line of argument now seems 

 to lose touch with the cell altogether, and to work 

 backwards from the other end, thus :■ — Recapitulation 

 occurs, therefore at some point a lengthening of the 

 life-cycle must have taken place. This can have come 

 about only through additional cell-divisions taking 

 place either at the end or in the course of the original 

 cycle. Having laid it down that a germinal mutation 

 is required to produce a new character, the author 

 is driven to conclude that this extension of the life- 

 cycle cannot be due to a change in a cell unit, " but 

 must rather be the result of the organism, as it were, 

 overcoming its cell-shackles and by its own energy 

 [not, be it noted, through an environmental effect, as 

 by the definition we are led to expect] producing new 

 developments, though such novel additions are them- 

 selves cellular in structure." Somewhat earlier in his 

 argument the author chides those who "desert science 

 for obscurantism," but what are we to call this? 



Though it may be that the reader will not feel that 

 the author's conceptions of evolutionary processes 

 materially advance the position, he will, nevertheless, 

 find in these articles a useful collection of pertinent 

 data. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Lu'ERPOor.. — Following the recent transfer of the 

 Port Erin Biological Station to the University (Depart- 

 ment of Oceanography), Mr. Herbert C. Chadwick, 

 who has been curator under the Liverpool Marine 

 Biology Committee for the last twenty-four rears, has 

 now resigned, but remains on the staff of the institu- 

 tion as research assistant. Mr. J. Ronald Bruce has 

 been appointed naturalist-in-charge, and official letters 

 should be sent to him. 



St. Andrews. — The following honorary degrees 

 were conferred at the annual graduation ceremony on 

 Julv 12: — LL.D. : Prof. W. M. Bayliss, professor of 

 general physiology in University College, London ; 

 Sir William Henderson, chairman of Dundee Tech- 



NO. 2698, VOL. IO7I 



nical College ; Emeritus Prof. D. MacEwen, Dundee ; 

 and Prof. A. N. Whitehead, professor of applied 

 mathematics in the Imperial College of Science and 

 Technology. 



Among the bequests of the late Dr. H. Barnes, 

 vice-president and a former president of the British 

 Medical Association, are his medical books to the 

 Royal Society of Medicine, and, conditionally, 2500L 

 to Edinburgh University for a scholarship for clinical 

 medicine and 1500Z. to Epsom College for a similar 

 scholarship. 



The Paton-Figgis scholarship, value 50^. for a year 

 and renewable, is being offer -^d by the South-Eastern 

 Agricultural College, Wye, Kent. Candidates must 

 be reading for the B.Sc. (Agric.) degree, and reside 

 outside the counties of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. 

 The latest date for applications to reach the Principal 

 of the college is August 14. 



The following appointments have been made at the 

 University College of Swansea : — Mr. F. A. Cavenagh 

 to the chair of education ; Dr. Florence A. Mockeridge, 

 lecturer in botany and head of the department of 

 biology ; Mr. L. B. Pfeil, assistant lecturer in metal- 

 lurgy ; Mr. A. Stuart, assistant lecturer in geology ; 

 and Mr. J. S. Caswell, demonstrator in engineering 

 for one year. 



The Ellen Richards research prize of 1000 dollars 

 (200I.) is being offered by the Association to Aid 

 Scientific Research by Women. Theses by women, 

 based on independent laboratory research, are eligible 

 for competition if received by the committee before 

 February 25, 1922. Further information and applica- 

 tion forms are obtainable from Dr. Lilian Welsh, 

 Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland. U.S.A. 



Two Royal School of Mines Frecheville research 

 fellowships, In aid of research in connection with 

 mining, mining geology, metallurgy, or the techno- 

 logy of oil, are being offered by the Imperial College 

 of Science and Technology, South Kensington, S.W.7. 

 The fellowships are of the annual value of 300L, 

 tenable for one year, with a possible renewal for 

 a second year. Applications, giving particulars of the 

 candidate's proposed investigation, his qualifications 

 and references, must be sent to the Secretary of the 

 college before September .1 next. 



We have received from Mr. G. D. Dunkerley, hon. 

 secretary of the Secondary School Teachers' War 

 Relief Fund, the report of the last year's working. 

 The object of the fund is to supplement the pensions 

 and allowances of soldiers, sailors, nurses, and their 

 dependents, and to secure that the families of the 

 fallen and disabled secondary-school teachers shal! 

 suffer to the least possible extent In material circum- 

 stances. A total of 9874Z. has been collected, and 

 allow^ances are now being made to the extent of 481J. 

 per annum. Thus the present capital fully safeguards 

 the present allowances, and leaves a marijin for addi- 

 tional help. The committee has therefore decided 

 to maintain the payments from capital and interest 

 combined without appealing for further funds, the 

 capital diminishing as the necessity for the allowances 

 ceases. Every opportunity will be taken of helping 

 the children of fallen teachers at future stages in their 

 careers, and although it has been decided to close the 

 subscription list In its present form, the committee 

 will gratefully accept legacies or donations for this 

 special purpose. The chairman of the committee is 

 Mr. A, A. Somervllle. of Eton College; the hon. 

 treasurer Is Mr. J. Hart-Smith, of the County 

 Secondary School, Battersea, and donations should be 

 sent to him, c/o Barclav's Bank, 835 Wandsworth 

 Road, S.W.8. 



