January 2, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



25 



data." In the description of the pedigree the 

 first sister is stated to be " certainly epileptic," 

 the second merely " shows signs of epilepsy," 

 while in Table I. both are definitely entered as 

 epileptic. Yet these different statements occur 

 in one and the same study of inheritance in 

 epilepsy. 



(h) Dr. Davenport writes that, 



Second, Dr. Heron catalogues with infinite 

 pains, "errors" in citing the case numbers. Here 

 he has fallen into a trap which the authors un- 

 consciously prepared for him. To avoid the possi- 

 bility that a person who is not authorized should 

 connect an individual at the institution with his 

 family history it was decided to apply altera- 

 tions to the ease numbers which enable the au- 

 thors, but not the ordinary reader, to identify the 

 case. 



My criticism was summed up as follows : 



Tables A, C and D (of Drs. Davenport and 

 Week's paper) thus contain particulars regarding 

 the relatives of 74 normal parents. In only 30 

 cases do the entries agree with the tables from 

 which they are supposed to have been extracted, 

 or with the pedigrees given in the paper. In 13 

 cases out of 74 the case numbers do not agree, 

 while 9 cases which ought to have appeared in 

 Tables C and D have been omitted. 



The whole of the errors made were defi- 

 nitely cited by me and the following may be 

 given as examples. Case No. 4529 of Table 

 IV. appears as No. 4521 in Table A of the 

 same paper and No. 2124 as No. 2129. 

 Comparing Tables VI. and C we find that 

 No. 335 appears as No. 332, 481 as 483, 



3m } ^ ^^ 37M } ^' ^'^°^ ^® ^'^^*' ®*°- '^^^ 

 Dr. Davenport now states that these changes 

 were deliberately made by him to hide the 

 identity of the individuals dealt with. I am 

 quite unable to understand how any individ- 

 ual can be identified as No. 4529 and yet es- 

 cape identification as No. 4521. Perhaps Dr. 

 Davenport will also explain how a pedigree 

 came to appear in Bulletin No. 4, Table VH. 

 as No. 2983, only to be changed in Table D of 

 the same paper to No. 2984, to reappear at the 

 Eugenics Congress as No. 2983 in Table VII. 

 and to return to No. 2984 in Table C. 



(c) Dr. Davenport states that I overlooked 

 the fact that the details of his pedigrees were 

 sometimes entered in 5 columns and some- 

 times in 9, 10 or 11 columns (not only in 10 

 as he states). I was well aware of the fact 

 and made no objection to this procedure since 

 in most cases Dr. Davenport has made up the 

 deficiencies of his " 5-column " classification 

 by a long series of footnotes. I did object, 

 however — to cite only a single example — 

 when I found in case 2487 that there were 

 four different versions of the mental condition 

 of a single fraternity of 12 children and 

 pointed out that Dr. Davenport gave of those 

 who died early or 2, of the " unknown " 0, 

 1 or 6, of the insane or 1, of the neurotic 0, 

 3, 4 or 5, and of the alcoholic 1 or 2, according 

 to the page consulted. It is for Dr. Daven- 

 port to justify these differences. 



Finally I would ask those who wish to judge 

 between Dr. Davenport and myself to read my 

 memoir in conjunction with those of Dr. 

 Davenport which I have criticized. They wiU 

 then be able to judge for themselves whether 

 or not my criticisms are justified. They in- 

 volved far more serious matters than those to 

 which Dr. Davenport now endeavors to reply. 

 D.wiD Heron 



The Francis Galton Eugenics Laboratory, 

 University of London 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Researches in Physical Optics with Especial 

 Reference to the Radiation of Electrons. 

 Part I. By R. W. Wood. Columbia Uni- 

 versity Press (New York, 1913). Pp. 133, 

 plates 10. 



This volume, whose subtitle serves to illus- 

 trate the manner in which the electron is 

 dominating current thought in physics, is 

 the most recent number of the Ernest Kemp- 

 ton Adams Series. Of the eleven papers 

 which are here collected all are experimental 

 in character: a large number of the results 

 have already been announced in other places, 

 mainly in the last three or four volumes of the 

 Philosophical Magazine. 



In point of iipportance, the first two of these 

 essays, dealing with the truly remarkable phe- 



