April 16, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



579 



To THE Editor of Science: In the issue of 

 Science for January 1, there is a note by P. 

 J. O'Gara on albinism in the English spar- 

 row. As he asks for further observations I 

 may say that I do not believe partial albinism 

 is at all rare in the English sparrow. Although 

 I have not recently observed any in this part 

 of the country, some years ago, when living 

 in Oregon, I used frequently to see English 

 sparrows that were partial albinos associating 

 with normal members of the same species. 

 F. L. Washbuen 



ExPEEiMENT Station, 

 State University, 

 Minneapolis, Minn. 



With reference to Dr. O'Gara's note on the 

 above subject in your issue of January 1, 1915, 

 I may state that in England it is of compara- 

 tively common occurrence. Cases are fre- 

 quently reported in the Field newspaper, and 

 I have knovm of three examples myself. Par- 

 tially white birds are by no means rare. 



I also possess a specimen procured by my 

 brother at Mosul in Asia Minor. 



G. Bathurst Hont 



4 Beaufort Road, 



Olipton, Bristol, England 



To THE Editor of Science: In your issue 

 of January 1, Dr. P. J. O'Gara, of Salt Lake 

 City, Utah, states that on several occasions 

 last summer he saw a single female English 

 sparrow (Passer domesticus} in the busy 

 streets of Salt Lake City with a pure white 

 plumage. He had never seen any reference 

 to albinism in the English sparrow, and he 

 asks if other observers have found this char- 

 acter to be common in that bird. 



In reply, I may say that albino sparrows are 

 fairly frequently seen in different parts of 

 New Zealand. I have about 600 correspond- 

 ents in the domain who send me notes on nat- 

 ural history, and I have received from them 

 about a score of albino sparrows. These birds 

 were first introduced into New Zealand in 

 1867, and now are the worst of all the bird 

 pests. Albinism also is not unusual in the 

 English blackbird {Turdus merula) in New 



Zealand; several complete albinos have been 

 reported to me. 



It is interesting to note that our native 

 birds show a very marked tendency towards 

 albinism. There are few species of native 

 birds that do not show this tendency. It is 

 very noticeable in the Kiwi (Apteryx), whose 

 soft, fluffy plumage, when pure white, is sur- 

 passingly beautiful. Our native birds also 

 have a tendency towards melanism, but this is 

 not so marked as the albinistic characteristic. 

 Jas. Deummond 



Christchurch, KT. Z. 



QUOTATIONS 



an attack ON" THE HEALTH LAW OF NEW YORK 



state 



Last week we commented briefly upon the 

 first annual report of the New York State 

 Public Health Council, congratulating our 

 fellow citizens upon the results of the council's 

 activities and upon the framing of a new 

 sanitary code for the state. And even as we 

 were penning the lines several bills were being 

 introduced into the state legislature which, if 

 adopted, would seriously cripple the work of 

 the commissioner of health and nullify the 

 new sanitary code. 



These bills, fathered by Assemblyman Hin- 

 man of Albany, five in number, are in the 

 shape of amendments to the public health law. 

 The first (Int. 1561) is directed against the 

 commissioner of health and instead of the 

 present injunction that he " shall not engage 

 in any occupation which would conflict with 

 the performance of his ofiicial duties," orders 

 that he " shall devote his entire time to the 

 duties of his office." This is perhaps the least 

 objectionable of the proposed amendments, 

 apart from the insulting innuendo concealed 

 in it, for the duties of the commissioner of 

 health are so exacting as practically to demand 

 his entire time in any ease. The second biU 

 (Int. 1600) will, if it becomes a law, seriously 

 interfere with the sanitary work in the state, 

 for it reduces the number of sanitary districts 

 from a minimum of twenty to a maximum of 

 ten, and at the same time fixes the salary of 

 the sanitary supervisor of each district at a 

 maximum of $2,500. In other words, it doubles 



