OcTOBER 23, 1902 | 
NATURE 
631 
To take an instance. Last year (1901) I carefully hybridised 
two varieties of the sweet pea, using lens, paint brush and muslin 
nets. One variety used was ‘‘ Gorgeous,” of a salmon-orange 
colour. It is described in Burpee’s catalogue as an improved 
‘*Meteor,” and ‘‘ Meteor” was brought out by Eckford about 
1893. The other variety was a new cream white, Eckford’s 
“*Mrs. Kenyon,” novelty of 1gor. : 
The seeds formed were some pale and some dark, the colour 
following that of the mother parent. None of the flowers of the 
offspring have been cream-coloured ; the seeds borne on ‘* Mrs. 
Kenyon” by pollen from ‘‘ Gorgeous” have all yielded purple 
flowers unlike either immediate parents, but probably taking 
their colour from the known remote purple ancestor of our 
sweet peas. Of seeds borne on ‘‘ Gorgeous” by pollen from 
‘Mrs. Kenyon,” eight plants yielded flowers like ‘‘ Gorgeous,” 
but ten of the plants yielded purple flowers. 
Here the dominant purple appears to be due to the previous 
long ancestry ; the salmon variety of ten years’ standing has 
several representatives, but not one single cream flower stands 
for the 1901 novelty. HuGuH RICHARDSON. 
Bootham School, York. 
The Fertilisation of Linum. 
In the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia for 1902, pp. 33-36, is a very interesting paper by 
the late Mr. Thomas Meehan, treating of some points in the 
life-history of certain plants. On p. 36, Mr. Meehan says :-— 
“*Mr. Darwin once stated that one might as well use organic 
dust as to endeavour to get seeds of Linum perenne by the aid 
of its own pollen. I found Zznwum perenne of our Rocky 
Mountains abundantly fertile with own-pollen, and said so in 
one of my papers.” As some anti-Darwinian will probably make 
much of this statement, it is as well to say that the Rocky 
Mountain plant is a distinct species, Lz /ewzszz, Pursh. 
In the same paper, Mr. Meehan has some very interesting 
remarks on the fertilisation of Lobelia, and shows that the 
Bartram Oak, Quercus heterophylla, Michaux, is not a hybrid, 
but a mutation (quite of the DeVriesian sort) of the pin oak. 
It will therefore be called Quercus palustris heterophylla. Mr. 
Meehan attributes such variations to ‘‘ varying degrees of vital 
energy,” and supports this view by calling attention to the fact 
that in the ivy, for instance, the leaves may at first be more or 
less lobed, but become wholly entire later on, in the same 
individual plant. One also recalls the great difference between 
the early and late leaves of many Malvacez, and of species of 
Eucalyptus. It is to be remarked, however, that these differ- 
ences occur in a regular manner, and their order cannot be 
reversed. T. D. A. COCKERELL. 
East Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S.A., October 7. 
Retention of Leaves by Deciduous Trees. 
HAVING followed the interesting discussion relating to the 
deferred shedding of their leaves by young beeches, it seems to me 
that something yet remains to be said, though, asI take it, 
P. T. (NATURE, May 15) has come very close to the solution. 
The phenomenon is common here also, and much more of the 
same kind can be seen. The maturing of leaves appears to be 
retarded by two causes. In older trees the lower branches with 
their leaves come late to maturity by reason of the tendency of 
the energy of growth to expend itself toward the higher branches. 
With young trees, and especially suchas are cultivated late in the 
season, maturity of the fresh growth is slow by reason of excess of 
vegetative activity. In both there is failure to mature the 
abscission layer of cork at the base of the petiole and consequent 
retention of the leaves. Inseasons of early autumnal frosts, the 
late-growing and imperfectly lignified parts of trees are the first 
to suffer. D. T. SMITH. 
Louisville, September 25. 
THE SCOTTISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
f= Antarctic summer of 1902-3 will see the un- 
precedented number of five exploring steamers at 
work on the edge of the southern ice, and three of these 
under the British flag. The fifth expedition is on the 
point of departure, and it promises to be by no means 
the least important, its equipment for some branches of 
research being remarkably complete. An objection may 
NO. 1721, you. 66] 
perhaps be taken to the name given to this expedition— 
the Scottish National—for, so far as we are aware, no 
public body or learned society in Scotland has been 
asked to accept any responsibility and none has claimed 
any credit in the matter; we fear, too, that the number 
of subscribers is not great enough to indicate any wide- 
spread interest amongst the people of Scotland. To 
Mr. W. S. Bruce is due the whole credit of planning the 
expedition, arranging all details of equipment and 
organisation, and beating up subscriptions with a per- 
tinacity which has deserved and commanded success. He 
now goes out as leader of the expedition, his enthusiasm 
in all branches of science and his unequalled experience 
of work in the ice of both Polar zones justifying hopes 
of good results. In a very full measure it is Mr. Bruce’s 
expedition. Next to him, honour is due to the small 
number of munificent subscribers, all, we believe, Scots- 
men, whose generosity has made the enterprise possible. 
The expedition is in truth Scottish throughout, but with- 
out the formal recognition and support of the leading 
learned societies it cannot rightly be considered national. 
In a paper read to the British Association at the recent 
meeting in Belfast, Mr. Bruce gave details of his plans 
and equipment, and on this authoritative statement we 
base the following remarks. 
While the British national expedition on the Discovery 
and the German national expedition on the Gauss are 
devoting attention in the first place to magnetism, for the 
study of which the ships were specially designed, and 
the Swedish expedition in the Avzvtarctic is in large 
measure geological, the Scottish expedition will be mainly 
devoted to oceanography and meteorology. Other 
branches of science will, of course, be attended to in 
each case, and Mr. Bruce has made ample provision for 
turning all opportunities to account. 
The ship for the expedition was an old Norwegian 
whaler, the Hek/a, which might possibly have made a 
Polar voyage in her original state ; but, on examination, 
it was found desirable practically to reconstruct her so 
as to render her absolutely safe in any circumstances 
that can be foreseen. She was accordingly stripped of 
her outer skins and resheathed, fitted with new masts 
and spars, and her whole internal arrangements and 
deck-plan remodelled, from the designs of Mr. G. L. 
Watson, by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company at Troon. 
Her name suffered a similar sea-change, and she is now 
the Scofza. A vessel of about 4oo tons, she is 140 feet 
long with 29 feet beam, and draws 15 feet of water. She 
has graceful lines, is barque-rigged, and is fitted with a 
new engine and boiler which have proved able to propel 
her at the rate of eight knots, while she is confidently 
expected to prove a fast sailer. 
The leader, captain and scientific staff will occupy an 
after deckhouse, the officers will be berthed amidships 
and the crew forward. A large deckhouse has been 
built amidships containing the galley and also a large, 
well-lighted laboratory, where most of the scientific work 
will be carried on. It communicates with a zoological 
laboratory on the deck below, adjoining which there is a 
photographic dark-room. This lower deck contains two 
great drums each carrying 6000 fathoms of cable (pre- 
sumably of steel wire, as each drum weighs six tons), 
which is led up to a 40-horse-power steam winch on the 
upper deck, and is to be used for trawling and trapping 
in the deep sea. Ample sounding wire is also carried. 
On the after deck, a special petrol engine is employed for 
working the winch for winding in the great meteorological 
kite specially designed and constructed by Mr. John 
Anderson, of Edinburgh, but of which no description has 
| yet, so far as weare aware, been published. A full equip- 
ment of meteorological and oceanographical instruments 
of the best patterns has been provided. 
The expedition has been fortunate in securing the 
services of Mr. Thomas Robertson, of Peterhead, as 
