Febbuart 14, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



273 



supremacy between maternal and paternal inherit- 

 ance forces. 



Oscar Eiddlb (Carnegie Institution) : Different 

 Degrees of the Sex Character Indicated hy the 

 Sex Behavior of Some Female Pigeon Hybrids. 



L. J. Cole (University of Wisconsin) : Two Tel- 

 low Mutants of the Common Meadow-vole. 



H. D. GeoDALE (introduced by A. M. Banta) : 



Additional Cases of Ovariotomy in Foiols and 



Ducks. 



The development of male characters in three 

 female birds following the removal of the ovary 

 has been previously reported. It is the purpose 

 of this note to present, very briefly indeed, addi- 

 tional data obtained from experiments made the 

 past season on birds ranging from five to twenty 

 weeks of age at the time of the removal of the 

 ovary. 



Ducks. — Fifteen females were operated on, not 

 including a few that died as the result of the 

 operation. In three of these eases, owing to 

 hemorrhage, it was impossible to remove all the 

 ovary. These three birds did not assume any male 

 characters. In the twelve remaining cases, the 

 birds all began to develop the male plumage, but 

 after a short time three individuals reverted to 

 their original type. The cause of this reversion 

 became apparent, when, on examination, it was 

 found that the ovaries had partially regenerated. 

 The remaining nine individuals have continued to 

 acquire the male's plumage, that is, as the female 

 feathers drop out they are replaced by feathers 

 .like those of the corresponding male. In five of 

 these last cases it has been ascertained by a second 

 operation that the ovary was completely removed. 

 Although in several of these cases, the transformed 

 females are, externally at least, almost perfect 

 replicas of the corresponding male; nevertheless, 

 the voice remains that of the female even in those 

 cases where the adult voice was acquired several 

 weeks after the operation. 



Fowls. — Operations were performed on 18 birds. 

 Four disappeared, four are still too young to show 

 male characters and in three cases only part of 

 the ovary was removed. These last did not assume 

 any male characters. In all the remaining cases 

 but one the male habit is developing in its en 

 tirety, viz., plumage, spurs, comb and wattles. 

 The one exception noted that reverted to the 

 female type after a time was due, as examination 

 showed, to the regeneration of the ovary. 



Summing up all these cases in both kinds of 



birds, there is a total of 24 individuals which, at 

 the time of writing, have assumed male characters 

 following ovariotomy. 

 John Detlepsen (introduced by J. H. Gerould) : 



Genetic Studies on a Cavia Species Cross. 

 O. L. Jones (introduced by L. J. Cole) : Soine 



Besults of a Study of Pigmentation in Pigeons. 



miscellaneous titles 

 Jacob Reighakd (University of Michigan): (1) 

 On the Breeding Behavior of the Log Perch 

 (Percina caprodes). (2) An Instance of Lo- 

 cality Memory in the Woodchuck. 

 Elizabeth M. Dunn (Nelson Morris Laboratory 

 of Medical Research) : The Sensory Innervation 

 of the Developing Hind Leg of Sana pipiens. 

 F. L. Landacre (Ohio State University) : A Com- 

 parison of the Cereiral Ganglia of Amei/urus, 

 Lepidosteus and Bona in Embryonic Stages. 

 W. B. Wherry (introduced by H. McE. Knower) : 



Experimental Studies on Amelia. 

 M. A. Brannon (University of North Dakota) : 

 An Examination of the Conditions of Life in 

 Devils Lake. 



This report deals with experiments in accli- 

 matizing fish at the North Dakota Biological Sta- 

 tion, on the shores of Devils Lake, N«rth Dakota. 

 The experiments extended over a period of four 

 summer seasons. The large-mouthed black bass, 

 the sucker, bullhead, pickerel, yellow perch, steel 

 head trout and rainbow trout, furnished the ma- 

 terial for the experimental work. Their ages 

 varied from fish that were only a few months of 

 age to those that were several years old. The 

 Devils Lake waters are about one and two hun- 

 dredths per cent, saline with the three salts, 

 sodium sulphate, magnesium sulphate and sodium 

 chloride, representing the major part of the saliDe 

 material in the water. None of these salts, in the 

 percentage existing in Devils Lake waters, are 

 toxic for fish, hence it seemed probable that it was 

 a physical rather than a chemical condition which 

 was inhibiting the fish life which I placed in the 

 cultures of Devils Lake water. Proceeding on that 

 hypothesis the fish were placed in waters that very 

 gradually changed from the chemical composition 

 of the sweet water, from which the fish came, to 

 the percentage of salinity of that in Devils Lake. 

 The factors of heat and gas composition were 

 found very important, as shown from the readings 

 which were determined during the progress of the 

 experiments. 



