196 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1208 



(E) Changes as under D, but tlie names (of 



Cates'by) perhaps to be regarded as 

 Latin vernaculars. 



(F) Changes in accord with the law of prior- 



ity, but questionable on account of ir- 

 r^ularities. These include various 

 Arabic names of Forskal, used for di- 

 visions of genera. 

 (,G) Changes due to so-called preoccupation 

 by earlier, nearly identical words. 

 These I think should be rejected as 

 needless, following the opinion ex- 

 pressed in former years by Dr. Jordan 

 and others. 

 (H) Questionable cases, similar to G. 



Whatever we may think of all these cases, 

 we must agree with Dr. Jordan that it is of 

 prime importance to have them decided as soon 

 as possible. The matter concerns all working 

 zoologists, and these, now that they have the 

 facts before them, should endeavor to form 

 and express definite opinions. 



The printing and appearance of the book are 

 admirable, but it is unfortunate that the soft 

 paper is unsuited for annotations in ink. 



T. D. A. OOCKERELL 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE "RAWNESS" OF SUBSOILS^ 



In his communication to Science for Sep- 

 tember 21, 1917, Dr. C. B. Lipman has raised 

 the whole question of the relative " rawness," 

 or unproductivity, of subsoils by putting for- 

 ward the view, based upon his own observa- 

 tions of plant growth upon arid subsoils, that 

 these are but little, if at all, less " raw " or 

 unproductive than those of humid regions. 

 In suggesting that soil investigators do not 

 generally appreciate the facts which support 

 such a view he states the case too mildly. 

 Judging from their published statements they 

 do not even suspect the existence of such facts, 

 emphasizing as one of the most striking char- 

 acteristics of the subsoils of arid regions the 

 ability of these, when first thrown out of exca- 

 vations or simply exposed by grading opera- 



1 Published with the approval of the Director as 

 Paper No. 96, of the Journal Series of the Minne- 

 sota Agricultural Experiment Station. 



tions, to support a satisfactory growth of non- 

 leguminous plants as well as of legumes. I 

 am aware of no book or article, previous to 

 that just referred to, in which a contrary view 

 is expressed. This characteristic of arid sub- 

 soils, in contrast with those of humid regions, 

 is emphasized in all text-books which refer to 

 the matter at all, as illustrated by the follow- 

 ing list of references: 



1. " The Soil," by F. H. Zing, 1904, p. 29. 



2. " Soils," by E. W. Hilgard, 1906, p. 163. 



3. " The Principles of Soil Management," by 



T. L. Lyon and E. O. Fippen, 1909, p. 69. 



4. " Bodenkunde," by E. Kamann, 1911, p. 



527. 



5. " Principles of Agricultural Chemistry," by 



G. S. Fraps, 1913. 



6. " Soils, their Properties and Manage- 



ment," by T. L. Lyon, E. 0. Fippin and 

 H. 0. Buckman, 1915, p. 82. 



7. " Die Bodenkunkolloide," by P. Ehren- 



berg, 1915, p. 164. 



The view that the characteristic subsoils 

 of arid regions are lacking in rawness ap- 

 pears to be based almost entirely upon the ob- 

 servations of the late Dr. E. W. Hilgard, who, 

 in 1892, first called attention to the matter, 

 mentioning the following example: 



In the case of a cellar 7 to 10 feet deep, near 

 Nevada City, California, the red soil-mass dug out 

 was spread over part of a vegetable garden close 

 by, and, as a venture, the annual vegetables — 

 tomatoes, beans, watermelons, etc. — were sown 

 just as usual. They not only did well, but better 

 than the portions not covered, which had been cul- 

 tivated for a number of years and were somewhat 

 exhausted thereby.2 



F. Wholtmann, of Halle, who in the early 

 years of the present century made several vis- 

 its to California, later expressed the same 

 view, but it is not clear to what extent his 

 conclusions were based upon his own observa- 

 tions, he having discussed the matter with 

 Hilgard while in America. The common 

 tendency to take Hilgard's conclusions on 

 such matters as the final word is well illus- 

 trated by Ehrenberg, of Gottingen, who, in his 

 very recent book included in the above list, 

 mentions that 



2 IT. S. W. B. Bui. 3, p. 19. 



