July 9, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



41 



two stages (transparent and opaque) wliieli ap- 

 pear so strikingly in slowly-clotting mammal- 

 ian blood. These stages are superficial phe- 

 nomena which merely reflect the extent of 

 fibrin-formation. Coagulation is a' gradual 

 continuous process of fibrin-formation; and 

 in the clotting of normal plasma, fibrin needles 

 can be demonstrated in the earliest appreciable 

 coagulum, however delicate, transparent or gel- 

 like. Arnold Eice Eich 



THE KENTUCKY ACADEMY OF 

 SCIENCE 



The seventli annual meeting of the Kentucky 

 Academy of Science was held at the University of 

 Kentucky, Lexington, on Saturday, May 8, Presi- 

 dent P. P. Boyd presiding. The secretary's report 

 showed a membership of 110, and 24 new members 

 were elected at this meeting. Eesolutions were 

 adopted accepting the terms of afSiliation with the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence and establishing two classes of active mem- 

 bers: national and local; and looking to coopera- 

 tion with the American Ecological Society in 

 preservation of natural conditions. The principal 

 address, ' ' The twentieth century 'a contribution to 

 our knowledge of the atom" was delivered in the 

 afternoon by Professor R. A. Millikan, who was 

 afterwards elected an honorary member of the 



The following program of papers was rendered: 

 President's address. The future of the Ken- 

 tucky Academy: Dean Paul P. Botd, University 

 of Kentucky. The speaker presented first the sum- 

 maries of state academies given by Mr. D. D. 

 "Whitney in Science of December 5, 1919 and then 

 told the results of a questionnaire which he had 

 lately sent to secretaries of state academies, the 

 object being to ascertain the future and the field 

 of such organizations. He concluded that there is 

 a definite need for them and urged that the Ken- 

 tucky Academy begin a forward movement in order 

 to fill more properly its field in the nation-wide 

 organization of science. Some of his suggestions 

 were that the academy cooperate more eifectively 

 with the national bodies; that membership be ex- 

 tended more widely to educational and industrial 

 plants; that science clubs be organized throughout 

 the state; that better science teaching in the high 

 schools be promoted; that funds be solicited from 

 the legislature and private soiirces for publication 

 and research funds; that committees be formed 



for the study of important state problems and for 

 state surveys; and that recommendations be formu- 

 lated for presentation to the next legislature. 



Blood lines of genetic value: W. S. Anderson, 

 Kentucky Experiment Station. In the domestic 

 breeds of live stock great sires seldom produce 

 more than one or two sons that are greater pro- 

 genitors than themselves. This means, in blooded 

 stock, that the greatness of any given blood line is 

 handed on by one or two in any one generation, the 

 others of the generation merely add members. In 

 support of the statement, the great sires of nine 

 breeds of domestic animals were cited and the few 

 sous of each were named who have been instru- 

 mental in handing on the breeds. 



Failure of lettuce to head: A. J. Olnet, and W. 

 D. Valleau, Kentucky Experiment Station. The 

 various physiological troubles associated with the 

 failure of greenhouse head lettuce, including those 

 known as rosette, tip-burn, black heart and elonga- 

 tion of the central stalk with the production of 

 laterals (Rio Grande disease), have been found to 

 be associated with a root rot apparently due to 

 Fusarium, sp. Soil sterilization by steam and 

 formaldehyde have only partially controlled the 

 trouble, due probably to incomplete sterilization of 

 the lower soil layers. 



Variation in Ahutilon Theophrasti Medici: 

 Charles A. Shull, University of Kentucky. This 

 paper is a report of progress in an investigation of 

 variability in the number of carpels in the ovaries 

 of A. Theophrasti. The range of variability is 

 from ten to seventeen, with the mode usually on 

 fourteen or fifteen. The material shows a skewed 

 frequency distribution, and ■ tendency toward half 

 Galton-curves. A number of plants have been 

 found with half curves and the mode on 15. But 

 whenever a number of plants are counted together, 

 there are usually a small nimiber falling on six- 

 teen. Only three specimens in about 8,000 had 

 seventeen carpels to the ovary. The mode falls on 

 a lower number in material collected in Kansas 

 than in similar material from Kentucky. The drier 

 climate of Kansas is probably responsible for this 

 difference. If plants from an unfavorable habitat 

 are counted the mode is found to be depressed. 

 The modifications of the variability curves noted 

 are probably related rather directly to nutritional 

 conditions. Heredity and suboptimal nutrition are 

 believed to be responsible for the half -curve varia- 

 bility. 



Some factors to he considered in attempting to 

 communicate with supposed inhabitants of Mars: 



