228 



NATURE 



[August i8, 19 io 



bed, the lower forest, and the second Arctic bed represent 

 distinct climatic phases during early post-Glacial times. — 

 Dr. D. Berry Hart ; The validity of the Mendelian theory. 

 In Mendel's well-known experiment of the crossing of 

 the tall and dwarf varieties of pea, the first generation 

 of plants gave- all tails, and these when self-fertilised gave 

 somatic talis to dwarfs in the ratio of 3/1. The dwarfs 

 then bred pure, while the somatic tails gave pure tails 

 and impure tails in the ratio of 1/2, and so on. The tall 

 character being called dominant and the dwarf recessive, 

 the question has to be answered, " How is the recessive 

 quality represented in the plant of the first generation?" 

 By regarding the plant as having a propagative and 

 somatic part, and the oospore or zygote as having a part 

 set aside for the propagative and one for the somatic part, 

 Dr. Hart proposed to amend the Mendelian scheme as 

 follows. Using TD to represent the tall and dwarf pro- 

 pagative parts, and id their somatic parts, then Tl, Dd 

 will represent pure tails and dwarfs respectively. In the 

 first generation of plants only t is present, although T, D 

 both exist pure or mingled. Hence the following 

 scheme : — 



Egg-cells of Dwarf x Pollen Grains of Tall. 



{ID i 



III 



I I 



Tr T/ (TdV U(/ Da' 



All the Mendelian ratios are satisfied. The answer to the 

 question, " Where is the recessive quality in the first 

 generation?" is that it is present pure in the propagative 

 part of a quarter of the zygotes, present along with the 

 tall determinants in a half, and not at all in the somatic 

 part of the zygotes. The unit characters segregate out in 

 the Mendelian ratio in plants because the determinants 

 of these combine in the propagative part by the law of 

 frequency. This explains why biometric results, measure- 

 ments of organs, &c., follow the law of frequency or some 

 modification of it. — Dr. John Aitken : Did the tail of 

 Halley's comet affect the earth's atmosphere? The 

 measurement of the number of dust particles during the 

 passing of Halley's comet was made in the West High- 

 lands at a place where in previous years Dr. Aitken had 

 made a series of similar measurements. Some curious 

 results regarding the prevalence of haze during May of 

 this year were obtained, but none of these could be con- 

 nected with the comet. — Sir David Gill exhibited some 

 photographs of the comet which had been taken in the 

 Transvaal just before the comet passed in front of the 

 sun. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, ."Vutjust 8. — M. Boussinesq in the 

 chair. — H. Deslandres : The properties of the polar fila- 

 ments of the sun. As the sun-spots diminish, the filaments 

 at the centre are also reduced, but the filaments round 

 the poles remain. The causes of this are discussed. — Ch. 

 Laliemand : The changes of level caused by the Messina 

 earthquake. The changes of level produced by the earth- 

 quake are shown on a map of the Messina and Reggio 

 districts. In the neighbourhood of these two towns the 

 displacement is about 60 centimetres. — A. Laveran and 

 A. Pettit : .'\n epidemic disease in trout. This disease 

 has been proved to be identical with the Taumelkrankheit 

 of B. Hofer, and is caused by a parasitic Protozoa, re- 

 sembling Rhinosporidium kinealyi, described by Minchin 

 and Fantham. — Alfred PIcard : The floods in the basin 

 of the Seine during January and February, 1910. Remarks 

 on the report of the committee on the Paris floods. A 

 comparison of this flood with earlier inundations, and a 

 discussion of the various proposals for preventing a 

 recurrence. — A. Perot : The rotation of hydrogen in the 

 solar atmosphere. The results obtained by the applica- 

 tion of the interferential method accords with observations 

 recently published by Hale. — G. Darmols : Correspond- 

 ences with concurrent normals. — R. de Saussure : 

 Concerning a reclamation of priority by E. Study. — H. 

 Larose : The problem of a cable with transmitter. — 

 Gabriel Sixes and G. Massol : The vibration of a tuning- 

 fork. Rotating vibrations. The fork has two sets of 



NO. 2129, VOL. 84] 



vibrations, one in the plane parallel to that of the prongs 

 and the other perpendicular to this plane. From these 

 two as fundamentals, sixteen notes are produced. — G. 

 Austenweit and G. Cochin : Certain causes of geranium 

 smells. A study of the connection between smell and com- 

 position. The results are applied to the question of the 

 formula of nerol. — G. Friedel and F. Grandjean. 

 Lehmann's anisotropic liquids. The authors regard the 

 conception of these fiuids as liquid crystals as erroneous ; 

 they should be considered as representing a new state of 

 matter as different from the crystalline state as an ordinary 

 isotropic liquid. — H. Herissey : The preparation of pure 

 arbutine. The arbutine of commerce is a mixture of 

 arbutine with its methyl homologue. A method of 

 separating these two substances is described, based on the 

 conversion of the arbutine into a potassium salt, insoluble 

 in alcohol. — C. Tanret : The relations between callose 

 and fungose. In opposition to the vievirs recently expressed 

 by M. Mangin, the author regards callose and fungose as 

 distinct substances. — Raoul Bayeux : Experiments made 

 on Mt. Blanc in iqog on the variations of glycemia and 

 hematic glycolysis at very high altitudes. — C. Jouan and 

 A. Staub : The presence of haemolytic and bacteriocidal 

 alexine in the plasma of birds. — Charles Nicolle and E. 

 Conseil : Some new experimental data on exanthematic 

 typhoid. — Ed. Retterer and .Aug. Leiievre : The epithelial 

 origin and development of Peyer's patches in birds. — 

 Armand Dehorne : New interpretation of reduction in 

 Zoogonus mirus. 



CONTENTS. PAGH 



Internal-Combustion Engines 197 



Structure and Distribution of Ore Deposits. By 



J. W. G ig8 



The Sugar-cane and its Products. By W. G. F. . 199 



The Psychology of the Will 199 



A Book of Characteristic Fossils 200 



Metallography . 200 



Exercises in Physical Geography. By G. G. C. . 201 



Our Book Shelf . 202 



Letters to the Editor : - 



Wiltshireite : a New Mineral. — Prof. W, J. Lewis, 



F.R.S 203 



The Nomenclature of Radioaciivity. — Norman R. 



Campbell 203 



Perseid Meteoric Shower, 1910. — W. F. Denning . 204 

 Brilliant Meteor of July 31. — Father A. L. Cortie, 



S.J 204 



On Colour Vision at the Ends of the Spectrum. 



By the Rt. Hon. Lord Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S. . J04 



More Antarctic Natural History. {Illustrated.) . . 205 



Atomic Weights. By T. E. T. 207 



Tests for Colour Vision By N. B. H 208 



Greenwich Watch and Chronometer Trials . . 210 



Notes 210 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



A New Comet 213 



Observations of Comets . 213 



Observations of Mercury 213 



Dispersion of Light in Interstellar Space 213 



Anomalous Scattering of Light 214 



The Spiral Nebula M51 (Canum Venaticorum) . . . 214 



Supplement to the " Astronomische Nachrichten " . 214 



The First International Congress of Entomology 214 

 The Fifth International Congress of Photography. 



By C.J 215 



The Origin and Classification of Mammals. By 



R. L 216 



The Mineral Survey of Peru. {Illustrated.) By 



G. A. J. C. . 217 



New Process for Producing Protective Metallic 



Coatings. {Illustrated.) ... .218 



The Galitzin Seismograph. By G. W. W. . . 218 



Recent Agricultural Publications in Great Britain 219 



The Educational Value of the School Garden 220 

 The Telegraphy of Photographs, Wireless and by 



Wire. {Illustrated.) By T. Thome Baker .... 220 



University and Educational Intelligence 226 



Societies and Academies 227 



