216 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1393 



the above-mentioned characters, — notably, (h) 

 a pollen lethal, and (i) a factor for revolute 

 leaves* — it can be safely stated that inherit- 

 ance in the CEnotheras is comprised almost 

 ■wholly in the two categories, anomozeuxis and 

 monozeuxis, while pleiozeuxis seems at the 

 present time to be exemplified clearly only by 

 the relation between the factor for hrevistylis 

 and the other known factors, with the pos- 

 sibility that even hrevistylis may one day be 

 connected up with the same linkage group as 

 the others, through the discovery of an inter- 

 mediately placed gene. 



On the whole it is now clear that while the 

 genetical phenomena in the CEnotheras, with 

 exception of the ease of variegated foliage, 

 can be referred definitely to the chromosomes 

 (zeuxis), the occurrence of independent segre- 

 gation which is necessary for the production 

 of typical Mendelian behavior is so rare as 

 to be almost negligible. 



George H. Shull 



Princeton University 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 

 MEMORIAL TO JAMES ORTON 



The governments of Bolivia and Peru have 

 erected a monument to James Orton, the 

 American explorer, whose grave is on Esteves 

 island in Lake Titicaca. The funds for the 

 memorial were given by the alumnae of Vas- 

 sar College, where at the time of his death 

 Dr. Orton was professor of natural history. 

 The execution of the memorial was entrusted 

 to John Ettl, the New York sculptor. It 

 will be placed on the crest of the island which 

 rises several hundred feet above the lake. 

 The memorial is nine feet in height, circular 

 in pattern with a square plinth, and in its 

 ensemble suggests a tomb. The circular 

 character was inspired by the tall shaft-like 

 structures of the Incas. The dedicatory exer- 

 cises will be held on September 25, the forty- 

 fourth anniversary of Orton's death. The 



8 Since this was written the factor for revolute 

 leaves has been fully demonstrated to lie in 

 chromosome I at or very near the same level as 

 the factor for rv.bricalyx buds and that for red 

 stems. 



Peruvian Government will be officially repre- 

 sented, and a large attendance is expected 

 from Arequipa, Peru and La Paz, Bolivia. 



Miss Anna P. Orton, the daughter of the 

 explorer, Mrs. Alice P. Sanford and Miss 

 Ellen W. Farrar, Vassar alumnae, will repre- 

 sent the college. They take to the ceremony 

 a stand of flags, including the Peruvian, 

 B'olivian and American, presented by the 

 United States Government. 



James Orton was born at Seneca Falls, 

 New York, April 21, 1830. He graduated 

 from Williams College in 1855 and at An- 

 dover Theological Seminary in 1858. In 

 1866, he was appointed instructor in natural 

 sciences in Rochester University. In 1867 a 

 scientific expedition to the equatorial Andes 

 and the River Amazon was organized under 

 the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and Professor Orton was selected as its 

 leader. The expedition sailed from New 

 York on July 1, 1867, and after crossing the 

 Isthmus of Panama, the route was from 

 Guayaquil to Quito, over the Western Cordil- 

 lera; thence over the Eastern Cordillera and 

 through the forest on foot to the Napo ; down 

 the Rio Napo by canoe to Pebas, on to Mara- 

 fion; and thence by steamer to Para, Brazil. 

 As a result of this expedition many hitherto 

 unknown specimens of natural history were 

 collected and from portions of the collections 

 in the museums of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Science, the Boston Society of Natural His- 

 tory, the Peabody Academy of Science, and 

 Vassar College, while the bulk of the collec- 

 tion was purchased by Ingham University, 

 Leroy, New York. 



Upon his return to the United States in 

 1869, Professor Orton was oSered the chair of 

 natural history at Vassar College with which 

 institution he remained until his death in 

 1877. In 1873 he made a second journey 

 across South America ^ from Para up tlie 

 Amazon to Lima and Lake Titicaca, making 

 valuable ethnological collections of Inca 

 relics. In 1876 he organized a third expedi- 

 tion, with the object of exploring the great 

 Beni River, a branch of the Madeira. This 



