July i8, 1907] 



NA TURE 



28- 



Aldrovandi's works, including several volumes published 

 after his death, are in themselves a striking monument 

 to his prodigious industry and encyclopajdic knowledge ; 

 his wealth and long life were given up to an attempt to 

 realise his ideal — " nothing is sweeter than to know all 

 things." 



The committee appointed under the patronage of the 

 King to carry out the arrangements for the Aldrovandi 

 celebrations had as honorary presidents the Marchese 

 Tanari (Prosindaco del Commune) and the Rector of the 

 University, Prof. Puntoni. Prof. Capellini, whose geniality 

 is well known to many English friends, filled the oflice of 

 acting president, and it is mainly to his labours and to 

 those of the general secretary, Sig. Sorbelli, that the 

 success of the meeting is due. On arriving at Bologna 

 delegates were met at the station by members of the 

 reception committee, from whom they received useful 

 literature and information as to the lodgings provided for 

 them. A general meeting was held in the Archiginnasio 

 in the afternoon of June ii, at which Prof. Capellini 

 welcomed the guests and gave an account of the order of 

 procedure ; in the evening a conversazione was given by 

 the Marchese Tanari in the municipal buildings. The 

 morning of June 12 was devoted to the most important 

 business of the meeting ; the delivery of discourses by 

 Prof. Capellini, the Minister of Public Instruction and 

 Agriculture, Prof. Costa and others, was followed by the 

 presentation of addresses, accompanied by a few remarks 

 by selected delegates. A feature of special interest was 

 a speech by Count Luigi ."Mdrovandi — connected through 

 fourteen generations with his illustrious ancestor. Prof. 

 Ferguson, of Glasgow, was chosen by the British delegates 

 as their spokesman. Oxford University was represented 

 by Mr. .^shburner ; Cambridge University, the Royal 

 Society, the Linnean and Geological Societies of London, 

 by Prof. Seward ; St. Andrews, by Dr. Steele ; and Glas- 

 gow University by Prof. Ferguson, who had previously 

 taken part in the celebration of the octocentenary of the 

 Bologna University. Among other delegates who spoke 

 were Prof. P^lissier, of Montpellier ; Prof. Schiick, of 

 Upsala ; Dr. Wieland, of Newhaven ; Prof. Entz, of Buda- 

 pest ; Prof. Richter, of Kolozsvar ; and Prof. Brusini, of 

 Zagabria f.^gram, Croatia). The unveiling of a memorial 

 tablet to Aldrovandi in the courtyard of the Archiginnasio 

 terminated a somewhat lengthy programme. 



In the evening delegates were afforded an opportunity 

 of seeing the new Italian Opera — " John the Baptist " — 

 in the Municipal Theatre. A cordial reception was given 

 to the composer, a young priest from Turin, as he appeared 

 before the curtain with those who took the parts of Christ, 

 John the Baptist, Herod, and Salome. On June 13 the 

 delegates were present at the inauguration of the 

 Aldrovandi Museum. This was the most striking event 

 during the meeting. A large collection of well-executed 

 wood-blocks, together with the original specimens, shelves 

 filled with volumes of unpublished manuscripts, a collec- 

 tion of coloured drawings of natural objects, and a series 

 of herbaria formed a most impressive demonstration of 

 the industry and whole-hearted devotion with which 

 Aldrovandi applied himself and his means to the pursuit 

 and organisation of knowledge. The fact that a catalogue 

 of the unpublished manuscripts, specially printed for the 

 celebrations, consists of 300 pages affords some measure 

 of what Aldrovandi accomplished. Each delegate received 

 a bronze medal bearing a bust of Aldrovandi and the fol- 

 lowing inscription on the reverse : — 



Cui natura parens 

 Quaerenti tota refulsit 



Virum post tria saecula meritas et gloria florentem 



civitas et universitas 



Bononiensis doctorum totius orbis adsensu rite 



concelebrant. Prid. id. iun. MDCCCCVII. 



In the afternoon a visit was paid to the Istituto Rizzoli 

 at San Michele, in Bosco. Within the building devoted to 

 orthopaedic treatment were seen strange machines in 

 motion to which were attached patients in various atti- 

 tudes. The view from the grounds of the institute of 

 Botogna and the plain beyond could not easily be surpassed. 



NO. 1968, VOL. 76] 



An enjoyable banquet at the Hotel Brun in the evening 

 brought the celebrations to a conclusion. 



The presentation of several specially compiled volumes 

 to those attending the meeting afforded another proof 

 of the pains taken to render the meeting a success, and 

 supplied a permanent interest to a thoroughly enjoyable 

 reunion of nations. The volumes included " Intorno alia 

 vita e alle opere di Ulisse Aldrovandi — Studi di A. Baldacci, 

 E. de Toni, M. Gortani, F. Morini, A. C. Ridolfi, A. 

 Sorbelli"; " Chartulorum Studii Bononiensis"; " Cata- 

 logo dei Manoscritti di U. .-\ldrovandi a Cura di Ludovici 

 Frati con la collaborazione di A. G. e Albano Sorbelli."' 



NATIONAL POULTRY CONFERENCE AT 

 READING. 



'X'HE second national poultry conference was held at 

 University College, Reading, last week, July 8—12, 

 under the presidency of Sir Walter Palmer, Bart. 



In addition to papers and discussions, there was an 

 exhibition of pairs of about 150 breeds of poultry, both 

 English and foreign. Several breeds of the latter had not 

 been seen in this country previously. 



Mr. C. C. Hurst read a paper on Mendel's law of 

 heredity and its application to poultry breeding. After 

 briefly alluding to Mendel's work on peas, he went on to 

 describe the Mendelian pairs of characters in fowls, such as 

 rose and single comb, white and coloured plumage, colours 

 of legs, and others. The " law of segregation " was then 

 explained and illustrated by reference to crosses between 

 rose-combed Hamburgh and single-combed Leghorn, and 

 between white Leghorn and black Minorca and other 

 coloured varieties. 



The rose-combed are dominant over the single-combed 

 varieties, and the lirst cross are all rose-combed birds. Bred 

 among themselves they produce on the average three rose- 

 combed chicks to one single-combed bird. The latter 

 mated with a similar one breeds true. The nature of the 

 blue Andalusian fowl was then discussed, and the want of 

 fixity of colour, in spite of more than fifty years of breeding 

 and separation of "rogues," was pointed out. Pedigree 

 " blue " birds produce only one-half blue like the parents, 

 the remainder being black and splashed white birds in 

 equal proportions. The black and white breed true, but 

 when crossed produce all " blue " birds. The necessity of 

 the determination of what characters are Mendelian was 

 emphasised, and the practical value of Mendel's law in 

 enabling breeders to calculate what the results of particular 

 crosses will be was referred to in conclusion. 



The next paper in the section dealing with breeding 

 problems was by Dr. J. Llewelyn Thomas, on " Hybridis- 

 ation Experiments with the Ceylon Jungle-fowl." These 

 experiments were undertaken in 1903-4 with the view of 

 solving the following questions : — (i) Will the Ceylon 

 jungle fowl (Gallus stanleyii) breed with the domestic fowl? 

 (2) Will the hybrids breed with the jungle fowl and with 

 the domestic fowl? and (3) will the hybrids breed among 

 themselves? The view that the black-breasted jungle fowl 

 of India {Gallus bankiva) is the parent stock of the 

 domestic game fowl is generally accepted, and Darwin, in 

 his " Animals and Plants under Domestication," says that 

 the Cevlon jungle fowl " may in all probability be rejected 

 as one of the primitive stocks of the domestic fowl," a 

 statement which he based on information supplied by a Mr. 

 Mitford that two hybrids raised by the latter proved 

 sterile. It was felt that the evidence just mentioned was 

 not sufficient to establish a conclusion one way or the 

 other, and experiments were undertaken to obtain further 

 information on the matter. Wild Ceylon jungle fowls were 

 obtained after much trouble and placed in specially built 

 runs with domestic fowls in various parts of the island. 



The mating of jungle hens with the domestic cock was 

 a complete failure. The jungle cock, however, mated 

 readily with domestic hens ! The eggs laid proved fertile, 

 and about thirty chicks were raised from them. The 

 hybrid cock crossed with the domestic hen gave fertile 

 eggs, and the offspring was fertile not only with the 

 domestic parent, but also with the hybrid parent and with 

 one another. No chickens were obtained from the crosses 



