124 EEPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. — 1919. 



The state of the bones varied considerably in the various parts of 

 the area excavated, some being very well presei^ed, others, however, 

 could not be subjected to the slightest handling. Some of the smaller 

 bones, especially, have already been sent to the British Museum', where 

 they await determination. In none of the three trenches has the bottom 

 of the cavern been reached, but in No. I and No. II we have come to a 

 conglomerate oi bones, consisting chiefly of teeth, which is very hard 

 to dig, but which it is hoped to work when the digging up of Trench III 

 is complete. 



Experimental Studies in the FJiysiologij of Heredity. — Report of 

 the Committee, consisting of Dr. F. F. Blackman (Chair- 

 man), Professors Batbson and Keeble, wnd Miss E. E. 

 Saunders. 



During the past year the investigation carried on by Miss Saunders 

 on the inheritance of surface characters in Matlhiola has yielded the 

 further evidence which was needed in order to render clear the factorial 

 relations underlying the results obtained. These results show that 

 Matthiola iyicana type and its well-known glabrous variety are not the 

 isolated forms which they appear to be, but represent the end turns 

 of a series, the intermediate members of which are characterised by 

 a gradual increase in degree of hairiness in the course of development, 

 so that the range in one grade overlaps that of the next in the series, 

 in strong contrast with the constant, vniform appearance exhibited 

 by the type and the wholly glabrous form. The range limits and the 

 gejietic behaviour of the several grades have now been determined, 

 the appearance in one at least of the lower grades when hair develop- 

 ment is almost at vanishing point being such as to suggest that we 

 have in this case reached limiting physiological conditions. 



It is proposed to continue the work on Matthiola and also certain 

 experiments already in progress on other genera. The expensiveness 

 of this work has much increased, and from last year's grant of 15L 

 they were unable to provide skilled labour. The Committee hope that 

 it may now be found possible to^ increase the grant to iOl., which sum 

 falls a long way below the cost of the work. 



Australian Fossil Plants. — Final Report of the Committee consist- 

 ing of Professor W. H. Lang (Chairman) , Professor T. G. B. 

 OsBORN (Secretary), Professors T. W. Edgeworth David 

 and A. C. Seward, appointed to cut sections of Australian 

 Fossil Plants, tcith especial reference to a specimen of 

 Zygopteris from Simpson's Station, Barraha, New South 

 Wales. 



The Committee reports that the whole of the block of Zygopteris stem 

 from Barraba has been sectioned after sfecuring accurate casts of the 



