- 428 



" The instability of prize-bred domesticated races requires ca- 

 reful scrutiny. The late Duke of Devonshire pointed out to 

 Lankester that race-horses are bred for speed, and not for 'points.' 

 The conclusion that I draw from Sir Walter Gilby's facts is that 

 breeders have not yet succeeded in fixing this particular quality. 

 But Shorthorns, which are bred for points, have reached a high 

 degree of stability ; if they had not, no one would give a thousand 

 guineas for a bull. The purchase of a possible race-horse is con- 

 fessedly a gamble." 



" The chapter on Mendel's laws is altogether admirable. It is 

 probably the most luminous account of them which has been 

 published. 



" Disease and immunity are admirably discussed. Races become 

 tolerant through selection working on germinal variation. Proto- 

 plasm learns to neutralise toxins. Twenty years ago I ventured 

 with bated breath to hint the possibility of its education. The result 

 is that the microbe and not the sword is the ultimate ' Empire 

 builder'; and subject races will either absorb or expel their con- 

 querors. The argument is extended to alcohol and narcotics. All 

 races who win their freedom from vicious indulgence must first be 

 slaves to it." 



A. B. BRUCE. Mendelistn, and its application to Stockbreeding. 



The Journal of Board of Agriculture, vol XVII, n. 4, p. 284. 

 July 1910. 



" Signs are not wanting that the researches in the science of he- 

 redity associated with the name of Mendel are awakening the 

 interest of practical men. The appointment of the leading expert 

 in Mendelian research to the Directorship of the Innes Institute at 

 Merton suggests that horticulturists, at any rate, anticipate that 

 practical results are likely to follow the application of the new me- 

 thods to garden plants. That agriculturists, too, are not behindhand 

 in recognising the value of the new science, as applied to the 

 plants of the farm, is shown by the recent appointment of Pro- 

 fessor Biffen as Botanist to the Royal Agricultural Society of En- 

 gland. Professor Biffen's success in producing new and valuable 

 varieties of wheat is now a matter of common knowledge. 



The value of Mendelian methods, when applied to. the production 

 of new varieties of plants, is both theoretically and practically 

 beyond dispute, but the application of these methods to the breeding 



