96 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1387 



permit of a general treatment of blending in- 

 heritance. If one attempts to apply to each 

 case a scheme of specially weighted factors, 

 as Punnett has done for size inheritance in 

 fowls and rabbits, he proves nothing except the 

 fact that a factorial explanation of his results 

 is possible, for by properly weighting factors 

 and assuming that some inhibit the action 

 of others, one can fit to his observations a 

 scheme involving either few or many factors. 

 If one factor really has an influence greatly 

 superior to that of other factors in a case of 

 blending inheritance, this will be seen in the 

 production of asymmetrical or multimodal 

 variation polygons in Fj and F,. If, when 

 adequate numbers are produced, the variation 

 curves of Fj and F^ are both smooth, it ia 

 certain that no genetic factor of predominant 

 influence is involved in the case, but that 

 several or many factors substantially equal 

 in influence are concerned. Whether many 

 or few can perhaps be ascertained by the 

 method suggested in this paper. 



I have recently applied it in the study of 

 weight inheritance in crosses between races 

 of rabbits differing in size, with the following 

 results. Three races of rabbits were crossed 

 in all possible ways. The average size of the 

 smallest race, Polish, was 1,404 grams; of 

 the second race, Himalayan, it was 1,875 

 grams ; of the third race, Flemish, it was 3,600 

 grams. The number of factors indicated as 

 differentiating the races in weight is in the 

 order of magnitude of the differences between 

 the races. See Table III. But the number 

 of factors indicated as differentiating the 

 smallest race from the largest (Polish from 

 Flemish) is apparently too great, since it ex- 

 ceeds the sum of the differences in number of 

 factors indicated as existing in the other two 

 crosses. It is perhaps not to be expected that 

 results more than approximately correct would 

 be given by this method, unless fairly large 

 numbers of both Fj and F, individuals have 

 been studied. In the rabbit crosses, the num- 

 bers of Fj individuals studied were 16, 25, and 

 27, respectively. The F„ numbers were 50, 62, 

 and 112. The results obtained are sufficient 

 to indicate the probability that in the Polish 



X Himalayan cross, 50 or more factors are 

 involved, and that the crosses with the largest 

 race, Flemish, involve two or three times as 

 many factorial differences. A fuller discus- 

 sion of this case will be published later. 



W. E. Castle 

 BussET Institution, 

 May 27, 1921 



THE UTAH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The fourteentli aimual convention of the Utah 

 Academy of Sciences met in the physics lecture 

 room of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 

 on Friday evening, April 1, 1921, and continued 

 for three sessions, closing Saturday afternoon with 

 a business session at which the following officers 

 were elected for the ensuing year. 



President, Dr. Frank L. West, Utah Agricultural 

 College, Logan, Utah. 



First Vice-president, Professor Hyrum Schnei- 

 der, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. 



Second Vice-president, Professor Carl P. Eyring, 

 Brigham Young University, Prove. 



Secretary, A. O. Garrett, East High School, Salt 

 Lake City. 



Corresponding Secretary, C. Arthur Smith, East 

 High School, Salt Lake City. 



Councillors, Professor Harold R. Hage, Univer- 

 sity of Utah; Dr. M. C. Merrill, Utah Agricul- 

 tural College, Logan; E. A. Hart, U. S. EeclamaT' 

 tion Service, Salt Lake City. 



Twenty-seven new members were added to the 

 academy's roll of membership, making the largest 

 increase in any one year in the history of the 



The academy voted unanimously to support the 

 following resolutions: 



Whereas: There is a greatly increased appre- 

 ciation and use of the recreation and scenic re- 

 sources of Utah to which an abundant supply of 

 wild life is of great importance in furnishing an 

 opportunity for nature study, fishing and hunting; 



Whereas: The maintenance of proper forest 

 conditions is necessary for the preservation and 

 production of fish and game, 



Wheeeas: Proper measures to insure a con- 

 tinued supply of fish and game must be based on 

 a scientific knowledge' of biological factors in- 

 volved ; 



Therefore, be it resolved, That the Utah Acad- 

 emy of Sciences: 



1. Emphasize the close relationship between our 

 forests and fish and game conservation. 



2. Endorse the recognition by the Forest Ser- 

 vice that the fish, game and wild life on the 

 National Forests are valuable resources to be 

 preserved and maintained. 



3. Cooperate with the sportsmen, the State Game 

 Department, and Federal departments in order 

 that proper measures to perpetuate the fish and 



