102 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1125 



sary to assume from the facts reported that the 

 drones of the E t generation are heterozygous as 

 regards color. If this fact were established, it 

 would disprove the Dzierzon theory, which is 

 supported by so many distinct lines of evidence 

 and thus far contradicted by none. A very 

 direct test of the assumption that F 2 males are 

 heterzygous could be made by mating them 

 with queens of pure race. Such matings should 

 produce mixed broods, if the drones are indeed 

 heterozygous, but otherwise not. 



We may conclude that the facts reported by 

 both Newell and Quinn are credible since (1) 

 they are really not at variance with each other, 

 (2) they have been made independently by ex- 

 perienced observers in the wonderfully favor- 

 able environment of Texas and (3) their ob- 

 servations accord with previous knowledge. 

 The credibility of Quinn's report is increased, 

 not lessened, by the fact that he supposed his 

 observations were at variance with prevalent 

 theories. 



Quinn's observations do not call in question 

 the Mendelian inheritance j of yellow body-color 

 in crosses, but Newell reported some facts 

 which might lead one to doubt the complete- 

 ness of segregation in all cases, such as the 

 production of drones of intermediate color. 

 The orthodox Mendelian and the devotee of 

 " exact " heredity will probably close his eyes 

 to such troublesome facts, but the student of 

 heredity who is not convinced of the finality of 

 present knowledge might do well to keep them 

 in view. William E. Castle 



Busset Institution, 

 July 1, 1916 



NOTE ON A MORAINE IN NORTHWESTERN 

 NEW ENGLAND 1 



A recessional moraine consisting of several 

 separate segments disposed along a sinuous 

 course lies near the Atlantic coast, and has 

 been traced through 60 miles from Saco, 

 Maine, to Newbury, Mass. It stands for the 

 most part at about or less than 100 feet above 

 sea level, but rises to 150 feet in Dover, N. H., 

 and Newburyport, Mass., and to between 200 



1 Published by permission of Director of V. S. 

 Geological Survey. 



and 250 feet in Wells and South Berwick, and 

 although not more than 40 to 100 feet higher 

 than surrounding Pleistocene formations, it is 

 topographically prominent. The moraine rests 

 upon and is surrounded by a floor of ice- 

 smoothed rock and of till. During the build- 

 ing of the moraine the region was submerged 

 so that the ice front stood in the sea. The 

 moraine is the result of accumulation of glacio- 

 fluvial detritus discharged directly into the 

 sea ; consequently in some places it is built up 

 as broad, flat, delta-like plains. Clay (" Leda 

 clay ") which is glacial outwash was continu- 

 ously deposited in the sea both while the 

 moraine was building and also after the ice 

 retreated from the moraine, so that the 

 younger clay beds in some places overlie the 

 moraine. The moraine and the marine clay 

 probably belong to a late Wisconsin sub-stage 

 of the Pleistocene epoch. 



Further description and discussion of this 

 moraine will appear in a paper to be published 

 by the United States Geological Survey. 



Frank J. Katz 



neptunium 



In response to Professor Emerson's request 

 for information concerning this element I beg 

 to present the following: 



Neptunium was announced by K. Hermann 

 in 1877 (Pharm. Central H., June 7, 1877, p. 

 186, through the Proceedings of the American 

 Pharm. Assn., 1877, p. 268). 



It is described as belonging to the " tanta- 

 lum group," of the atomic weight 118, and as 

 occurring in certain rare earths associated 

 with tantalum and niobium. 



J. F. Couch 



Des Moines, Iowa 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Psychological Effects of Alcohol. An Experi- 

 mental Investigation of the Effects of Mod- 

 erate Doses of Ethyl Alcohol on a Related 

 Group of N euro-muscular Processes in Man. 

 By Raymond Dodge and Francis G. Bene- 

 dict, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 

 Washington, D. C, 1915. 



