422 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
these conditions of sterility is thus not necessarily a proof of crossing in the 
ancestry. It is at least equally reasonable to suppose that the persistently 
heterozygous condition which is characteristic of various Oenothera species, 
including some of the small-flowered self-pollinating forms, has resulted from 
the development of lethai factors by mutation. 
A study has been made of the reduction divisions in Oenothera rubricalyx 
x Oe. gigas. The behaviour of the chromosomes in this triploid hybrid explains 
the origin of the wide range of chromosome numbers found in the offspring of 
such hybrids. This paper is now in the press in the Annals of Botany, as well as 
another on ‘The Trisomic Mutations of Oenothera.’ In the latter paper a new 
mutation with fifteen chromosomes is investigated, and the numerous forms 
having an extra chromosome are discussed. An explanation of their origin, 
their peculiar genetic behaviour, and their unique relationships to each other, 
is put forward, based on the behaviour of the chromosomes. The fact that 
certain forms with fifteen chromosomes can give rise to others with the same 
number, and that certain of these may in turn give rise to the first, can be 
explained by double non-disjunction. This behaviour, as well as other facts, 
such as the paucity of Mendelian mutations, leads to the view that the chromo- 
somes of Oenothera are probably less highly differentiated from each other than 
in some other organisms. 
A study of the inheritance of petal-size in four generations of an Oenothera 
hybrid (‘ A peculiar type of variability in plants,’ Journ. of Genetics, 13, 13-45, 
fig. 24) shows a new type of behaviour, which is in some respects intermediate 
between Mendelian inheritance and fluctuation. Fixed size units are apparently 
not involved, various irregular sizes of petals being obtained on the same plant 
and even in the same flower. It is suggested that these size differences may 
be determined in part by the cytoplasm rather than the nucleus, which would 
account fer the irregularity in their behaviour. A general explanation of the 
size inheritance of repeated parts is offered as an alternative to the current 
hypothesis of multiple size factors. 
A number of apparently unrelated cytological and genetical features of 
Oenothera behaviour are thus being brought under one co-ordinated point of 
view, and the innumerable complexities of Oenothera genetics are being explained 
hy hypotheses which apply also to other genera of plants and animals. The 
Committee do not seek reappointment, as other sources of funds are found to 
be sufficient for present purposes. 
Training in Citizenship. — Report of Committee (Right Rev. 
Bishop Wetupon, D.D., Chairman; Lady Suaw, Secretary; Mr. 
C. H. Buaxiston, Mr. G. D. Dunkerury, Mr. W. D. Eaaar, 
Dr. J. C. Maxweii Garnett, C.B.E., Sir Ricnarp GreEcory, 
Mr. Spurtey Hey, Miss E. P. Hucnes, LL.D., Sir THEoporn 
Morison). 
Tur Committee have met twice during the current year, and beg leave to report 
that they have now completed the work for which they were originally appointed. 
Considerable interest has been aroused throughout the country, and many 
experiments are being tried with the object of fitting persons of all ages for 
the performance of their duties as good citizens at home and abroad. 
The Committee desire to emphasise the opinion that training in citizenship 
depends as much upon environment and example as upon positive teaching. It 
is in the atmosphere created by the teacher that the spirit of citizenship is 
born and flourishes. The Committee express their sympathy with those teachers 
who are suffering disabilities, but deprecate unconstitutional methods in the 
search for remedies. The Committee therefore urge the necessity for greater 
care in the appointment of educational authorities and the choice of persons to: 
serve in the schools. 
The work among adults and in the higher classes of the schools is of para- 
mount importance in the direct teaching of civics, and the Committee would! 
