FEBRUARY 22, 1901.] 
tenth of a gram. They were then cut into 
halves and the seeds were taken out and 
weighed with the adhering pulp, after which 
the seeds were removed from the pulp, wiped 
as dry as possible on a towel and weighed. 
The percentage of seeds was computed by di- 
viding the weight of the seeds by the weight 
of the melon. The diameter of the melon was 
then measured, also the thickness of the flesh 
and ofthe rind. The flesh was then tested for 
firmness, texture and flavor. The flayor was 
rated on the scale of five as best. 
In five melons rated poorest in flavor, the 
weight of the seeds averaged 1.636 per cent. 
of that of the melon; in five rated of best 
quality, the weight of the seeds averaged 1.34 
per cent. of that of the melon. 
In five melons of ‘coarse’ texture, the 
weight of the seeds averaged 1.764 per cent. of 
that of the melon ; in five of ‘ fine’ texture, the 
weight of seeds averaged 1.364 per cent. of that 
of the melon. 
In five melons having the thickest flesh, the 
weight of the seeds averaged 1.53 per cent. of 
that of the melon ; in five having the thinnest 
flesh, the weight of seeds averaged 1.54 per cent. 
of that of the melon. 
In five of the heaviest melons, the weight of 
the seeds averaged 1.34 per cent. of that of the 
melon ; in five of the lightest, the weight of the 
seeds averaged 1.684 per cent. of that of the 
melon. ; 
It appears that so far as texture of flesh and 
flavor are concerned, Dr. Sturtevant’s con- 
clusions were verified. \ 
E. S. Gorr. 
WISCONSIN AGRICULTURAL EX- 
PERIMENT STATION. 
PREDETERMINED EVOLUTION. 
THE American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is 
structurally very widely separated from the true 
Redstart (Ruticilla phenicurus) of Hurope, and 
yet outwardly resembles it to an extraordinary 
degree. This fact has caused Professor Alfred 
Newton (Ency. Brit., XX., 318) to write as fol- 
lows: ‘‘The wonderful likeness, coupled of 
course with many sharp distinctions, upon which 
it would be impossible to dwell, between the 
birds of these two genera of perfectly distinct 
SCIENCE. 
dll 
origin, is amatter that must compel every evo- 
lutionist to admit that we are as yet very far 
from penetrating the action of creative power, 
and that especially we are wholly ignorant of 
the causes which in some instances produced 
analogy.’’ 
Cases of this sort may excite our wonder, but 
they are much more common than is often real- 
ized. In New Mexico and Arizona we have a 
series of numerous species of snails, which pos- 
sess shells in no way distinguishable, except in 
a specific sense, from those of the genus Poly- 
gyra, which is dominant in the eastern States. 
During the last two years the anatomy of several 
of these species has become known, and it turns 
out that they are not even closely allied to 
Polygyra, but represent a peculiar genus which 
has been named Ashmunella (Pilsbry and Cock- 
erell). In Arizona and southern New Mexico 
there is another series of snails, which has 
nearly the shell of Epiphragmophora, a genus of 
the Pacific coast. The species were always re- 
ferred to the last-mentioned genus until Pro- 
fessor Pilsbry recently dissected one of them, 
E. hachitana of Dall. It then appeared that we 
had here another perfectly distinct genus, which 
was named Sonorella (Pilsbry). But not only 
do these interesting resemblances occur between 
species of our continent ; they are seen equally 
between species of different continents. Some 
of the California species of Epiphragmophora so 
closely resemble the European Arionta that 
naturalists were for a long time deceived. I 
have recently had occasion to notice the extra- 
ordinary resemblance between certain Japanese 
snails and those of the United States. Thus, 
Eulota connivens (Pfr.) of Japan might easily be 
taken for Sonorella hachitana of Arizona; and 
Eulota mereatoria (Gray) is remarkably similar 
to Epiphragmophora fidelis (Gray), the first being 
from Japan, the second from Oregon. 
Is it possible that we may find a real, if im- 
perfect, parallel between this independent de- 
velopment of similar species and the develop- 
ment of diverse cells in the metazoa? A human 
being, for instance, contains innumerable cells 
of very diverse nature, all descended directly 
from the ovum or germ-cell. If these cells 
were not parts of an organic whole, but lived 
separate lives, we should speak of their descent 
