270 
form. The timber is suitable for many pur- 
poses, saws readily, is fine grained and light 
brown. The burr and nut of both varieties 
are almost identical in size and appearance 
with the eastern chinquapin. They are diffi- 
cult to obtain and are frequently attacked by 
a small whitish worm, the egg of which is de- 
posited, as in the eastern chinquapin and 
chestnut, by a moth. 
The writer suggests that the giant chinqua- 
pin be experimented with as a possible resis- 
tant species to reforest the eastern states de- 
vastated by the chestnut tree disease. The 
tree would probably stand the eastern condi- 
tions south of Maryland. The shrub is ex- 
tremely hardy. Marspden Manson 
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., 
January 8, 1912 
AN UNUSUAL EFFECT OF A LIGHTNING DISCHARGE 
Tue following note made by the writer 
under date of July 18, 1911, may be of inter- 
est: On the land of J. M. Dunklee (of Hawes 
postoffice, Ark.), in the N.E. 4 of the N.E. 4 
of See. 11, T. 2 S., R. 20 W., the lightning 
struck an oak tree (according to Mr. Dunklee 
three years ago), much shattering it. The 
tree stood near the top of a sandstone ridge. 
The discharge passed to the roots of the tree, 
then followed in the ground down the north 
slope, tearing out a trench in places 38 feet 
wide, and which must at first have been 24 
feet deep. At this time, the depth is 14 feet. 
The discharge followed down the slope 50 feet, 
tearing up the sandstone and throwing one 
block that is estimated to weigh 1,200 pounds 
up into the air and out of the trench. At the 
lower end of the trench, the discharge appar- 
ently passed beneath the surface, along a bed- 
ding plane between the upturned layers of 
sandstone. There is no evidence of any fusion 
of the rocks or the soil. 
A. H. Purpur 
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK., 
January 10, 1912 
“MISUSE OF THE TERM ‘GENOTYPE’ ” 
To THe Epiror oF ScreNcE: If the distin- 
guished students of genetics whose communi- 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 894 
cations have recently appeared in your pages 
do not imagine that their work is of interest 
to biologists and naturalists at large, then one 
is entitled to question their claim to so much 
of your space. Let them, one might say, con- 
fine their “terminological inexactitudes” to 
their own technical periodicals. If, however, 
they believe, as I do, that their highly valu- 
able work should appeal to all biologists, and 
that it has a particularly important bearing 
on the methods and conclusions of the sys- 
tematist, then surely they should try to avoid 
the use of terms that are liable to mislead the 
general naturalist, and that sooner or later 
must clash with those of the taxonomic biol- 
ogist. But assuming that they persist in act- 
ing as though their work were either un- 
worthy of general attention or far above the 
heads of all outside their charmed circle, still 
may one not appeal to them to recognize that 
serious writers in ScIENCE are at any rate 
their scientific colleagues, and as such have a 
claim to be treated with ordinary courtesy ? 
To state, after what has been written, that 
Dr. Johannsen is the “ originator of the word 
genotype” is to give either the cut direct or 
the lie direct to a fellow-worker. 
F. A. BatHEr 
London, ENGLAND, 
January 17, 1912 
SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 
The Animals and Man. An Elementary 
Text-book of Zoology and Human Physiol- 
ogy. By Vernon Lyman Ketioce. New 
York, Henry Holt and Company. Pp. 495. 
The present trend in high schools toward a 
combined course in human physiology and 
zoology is calling forth its inevitable train of 
new text-books, of which the present volume 
by Professor Kellogg is one. Knowing the 
writer’s practise in text-book preparation and 
his wide experience as a teacher and a zool- 
_ ogist, one is justified in looking for something 
exceptional in this new effort, but the reviewer 
must confess to a feeling of disappointment 
on reading the book. It has the appearance 
of having been hastily constructed with a some- 
what too liberal use of scissors and paste on 
