January 15, 1920] 



NATURE 



521 



makes up the true species complex. It can be demon- 

 strated that in certain fungi, at any rate, the morpho- 

 logical expression varies with tverv medium, i.e. with 

 ■nvironment, and must rightly "be regarded as a 

 ''sultant of a comparatively fixed physiological con- 

 stitution and a variable environment, i.e. of two sets 

 of interacting physico-chemical factors. 



In his paper on mutational versus recapitulatorv 

 rharacters Dr. Gates endeavoured to distinguish 

 between new characters which result from nuclear 

 changes in the germ-ccll, which he classed as muta- 

 tional and referred to as "a new Mendelian charac- 

 ter," and new characters which result from "the im- 

 press of the environment," which he classed as 

 recapitulatory and described as "gradually developed, 

 involving adaptation to new conditions, and, if per- 

 manent, the principle of inheritance of acquired 

 characters." He went on to say: "The theory of 

 antithetic alternation of generations, which is widelv 

 held as regards archegoniate plants, implies a gradual 

 lengthening in the sporophyte through the addition of 

 cell-divisions to its subterminal stages. This can 

 scarcely be supposed to have resulted from an altera- 

 tion in the cell-unit." 



Miss Saunders's paper on a graded series of forms 

 in Matthjola added very important data bearing on 

 the relation between continuous and discontinuous 

 characters. She has traced the genetic origin of a 

 perfectly continuous series of forms between the 

 glabrous variety and the normal denselv hairv plant. 

 These were produced as the result of crossing the 

 familiar glabrous variety with a rare half-hairy form. 

 ■'The phenomenon is explicable on the supposition of 

 multiple allelomorphs." 



Dr. Scott, in a paper entitled "The Relation of the 

 'I'eed-PIants to the Higher Crvptogams," discussed the 

 irevailing view that the pteridosperms, and hence the 

 -permophytp? as a whole, are to be derived from 

 some unknown group of ferns. Dr. Scott combated 

 this view, and took the stand that " pteridosperms 

 have always been distinct from any of the known 

 phyla of vascular Cryptogams . . . parallel in important 

 aspects to the ferns, but of unknown and remote 

 origin." He adduced anatomical and geological 

 evidence in support of his view. 



Another morphological paper concerned itself with 

 the vexed question of the nature and origin of the 

 pith and inner endodermis in meduUated ferns. Dr. 

 McLean Thompson concluded from his extensive 

 investigation of Platyzoma microphylJa that it fur- 

 nished very good proof of the intrastelar or potentiallv 

 vascular nature of the pith in this form. Not merely 

 Hoes the basal protostele pass graduallv into the 

 medullated condition once in the development of the 

 individual, as in many other forms, but in this species 

 the protostelic structure appears again in later-formed 

 regions. 



In a paper entitled " Monocotvledonous Features of 

 the Ranunculaceae, with Special Reference to the 

 Floral Structure," Dr. Salisbury reviewed the simi- 

 larities met with in the two groups in relation to 

 number of parts, didouhlement. meristic variation, 

 apocarpy, nature of fruits, placentation, etc. 



.\s the result of her extensive work on movable- 

 cell inclusions or .statoliths. Miss Prankerd has found 

 that they may be (i) starch grains, (2) chloroplasts, or 

 (3) crystals, and that the nucleus mav move with these 

 inclusions. E\en when this is not so, the nucleus of 

 the statocyte mav be markedly differentiated from 

 that of neighbouring cells. 



Under the heading of " Mychorrhiza and the 

 Ericaceae," Dr. M. C. Rayne added to her former 

 \vork new facts tending to establish obligate svm- 

 biosis in Vacciniiim similar to that in Calluna, and 



NO. 2620, VOL. 104] 



raising the question of the possibility of nitrogen fixa- 

 tion by the fungus. 



Prof. Priestley put forward a very important con- 

 tribution to the theoretical consideration of the pheno- 

 menon of root-pressure, involving an ingenious use 

 of the rapidly accumulating knowledge of the be- 

 haviour of a colloid gel in respect to its variability 

 towards water. It is hoped that this important sub- 

 ject will come up again for discussion at the Cardiff 

 meeting in 1920. 



The formal meetings of the section were brought to 

 a close by a semi-popular lecture of exceptional interest 

 given bv Prof. F. W. Oliver on Spartina and Poole 

 Harbour. E. N. T. 



EDUCATION AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



AFTER the presidential address by Sir Napier 

 Shaw the Section settled down to discuss a 

 varied and interesting programme, which attracted 

 large and appreciative audiences throughout the week. 

 It was a great disappointment that Sir A. Quiller 

 Couch was unable to be present himself, but his 

 paper on the teaching of English admirably expressed 

 a need now widely felt by thoughtful teachers that 

 English should be the root of all learning for an 

 English-speaking child ; that until the age of fourteen 

 or fifteen he should practise the language natural to 

 his mind in addition to one other; that the plainest, 

 most everyday speech should be clear, expressive, 

 accurate, graceful whenever possible, and at any rate 

 decent ; that a child should learn to define and clarify 

 in his mind the terms in which he thinks, to think in 

 real English, not in jargon. Therefore, to attain this, 

 teachers should aim through English in preference to 

 anv foreign language, alive or dead. English should 

 not be treated as a .special subject, but should be 

 the basis of all others. He deprecated the inordinate 

 amount of time given in the lower forms to lin- 

 guistics and mathematics, since these are mainly 

 ancillary, the former to literature and history, the 

 latter to natural science ; they are forma! studies, 

 studies in the abstract, and lacking the content of 

 the other three, employing processes alien to a child's 

 thought. 



Mr. W. D. F.ggar read a paper on the teaching 

 of English in relation to school science, and claimed 

 that the teaching of English was e;s much the con- 

 cern of the science master as that of any other 

 master- perhaps more so, as he is concerned with 

 the live end of the language. He strongly urged that 

 a broader and more intelligent studv of English should 

 take the place of much of the mathematical and lin- 

 guistic work in preparatorv schools. 



Prof. H. E. .Armstrong opened a discussion on 

 " Method and Substance of Science Teaching " ly 

 criticising the Government report on the position of 

 natural science in the educational system of Great 

 Britain. This report he thought would prove of little 

 value to teachers, and not likelv to influence educa- 

 tional opinion to anv degree. He looked upon it as 

 a lost opportunity for examining and utilising experi- 

 ments already tried. He combated the .absurd state- 

 ment made in Paragraph 43 of the report : that the 

 heuristic method involves the rediscovery bv the pupil 

 in his school hours of all that he mav fairly be 

 expected to know. The method does, however, 

 involve neither more nor less than learning the art 

 of inquiry. The method employed must be disci- 

 plinary — the method of science ; scientific outlook 

 must be acquired if scientific knowledge is to be of 

 aTiv avail. 



