1905] CURRENT LITERATURE 385 
peltatum, Calycanthus floridus and Campanula grandis. In very young pollen 
mother-cells he finds masses of chromatin which he calls prochromosomes. The 
rochromosomes are in pairs and their number is the same as that found in somatic 
nuclei. The parental chromosomes maintain their identity during synapsis. 
The first division is a reduction division in which entire univalent chromosomes, 
which were united during synapsis, become separated. The second mitosis is a 
ubling division. It is probable that the two halves of the presynaptic chromo- 
somes are of paternal and maternal origin, and that during synapsis there is @ 
union of paternal and maternal elements.—C. J. CHAMBERLAIN. 
THE INHERITANCE of coat characters in guinea-pigs and rabbits has been 
studied by Castie”? during the last five years, and his first detailed report has 
appeared in the series of papers of the Station for Experimental Evolution. In 
breeding about 3,000 guinea-pigs and several hundred rabbits he finds that the 
following characters obey MENDEL’ laws, the first mentioned member of each 
characters and their recessiveness agrees, therefore, with the view that phylo- 
genetically older characters dominate the newer; but the rough coat, which is 
dominant over smooth, is nowhere found among guinea-pigs in their native 
state and is likewise a new character. This shows, as has been done recently by 
Correns"s also, that ancestral characters do not necessarily dominate the new 
ers in inheritance. ‘The dominance of the rosetted or rough coat over the 
smooth may be considered as supporting CORRENS’S view that the morphologi- 
dominance 
e to predict 
Peared in recessive gametes beyond hope of recall, except un 
os which are in most cases not entirely clear.” He exp: 
« prior; a recessive character may ever be latent, though there 
grounds for such a difference of behavior in the two kin 
Soa he other being entirely free from blac 
i gad non-black offspring, no black pigmented young resul 
hea This difference of behavior between the purebred race ek 
a mbles BATESoN’s experiences with sweet peas and stocks. 
bf 
Was reaps E., Heredity of coat characters in guinea-pigs and rabbits. pP- 78. 
sc. . bea Institution of Washington. 1905. 
4 Sop Sag “ Botanica, GAZETTE 40:235- 1995- 
2 umé in BoranicaL GAZETTE 40: 313. 1995- 
