May 3, 1901.] 
onomy of fungi, taxonomy of bryophyta, 
taxonomy of pteridophyta, taxonomy of sper- 
matophyta, taxonomy of gramineae, embry- 
ology of spermatophyta, special taxonomy, 
regional botany, physiology of nutrition, eco- 
logical physiology, physiological anatomy, gen- 
eral physiology. The director says further, 
“* Almost any problem in botany may be taken 
up by the trained botanist, who may come to 
the laboratories with the expectation of finding 
facilities for his work.’”’ It should be borne in 
mind that ‘the laboratories never close for a 
vacation,’ and that one may work here when 
most universities are closed. 
A STUDY OF WHEAT. 
Mr. M. A. CARLTON, of the Division of Vege- 
table Physiology and Pathology of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, has for 
several years been engaged in a study of wheat 
with especial reference to its growth in different 
portions of this country. He finds that the 
country may be divided into eight wheat dis- 
tricts, as follows: (1) The soft wheat district, 
including mainly the north Atlantic states (in 
Virginia the mountainous region only) ; (2) the 
semi-hard winter wheat district, including the 
north central states ; (8) the southern wheat 
district, including the northern part of the 
southern states; (4) the hard spring wheat 
district, including the states of the northern 
Plains ; (5) the hard winter wheat district, in- 
cluding the states of the middle Plains ; (6) the 
durum wheat district including a part of the 
states of the southern Plains; (7) the irrigated 
wheat district, in scattered areas in the Rocky 
Mountains and the Great Basin ; (8) the white 
wheat district, including the larger part of the 
Pacific Coast states. A colored map illustrates 
these divisions in the bulletin (No. 24) in which 
Mr. Carlton discusses this subject. The species 
and sub-species of wheat recognized by Mr. 
Carlton are in the main those accepted by 
Koernicke and Werner in their ‘Handbuch 
des Getreidebaues’ as follows: 
Triticum vulgare, the most valuable and widely dis- 
tributed species, represented by a greater number of 
varieties than all other species taken together, in- 
cluding the soft winter wheats, hard winter wheats, 
hard spring wheats, white wheats and early wheats : 
SCIENCE. 
715 
Triticum compactum, more properly a variety of the 
former, including the club sheets. 
Triticum turgidum, a subspecies of T. vulgare, in- 
cluding the Poulard wheats, with such varieties as 
“Seven-headed Wonder,’ ‘Hundred-fold’ and ‘ Mir- 
acle.’ 
Triticum durum, a subspecies of 7. vulgare, includ- 
ing the durum or macaroni wheats. 
Triticum polonicum, a distinct species, including the 
Polish wheats. 
Triticum spelta, a subspecies of 7. vulgare, including 
spelt. 
Triticum dicoccum, a subspecies of 7. vulgare, in- 
cluding spelt-like wheats bearing the German name 
of ‘Emmer.’ 
Triticum monococeum, a very distinct species, prac: 
tically unknown in America, and but little grown in 
Europe, where it bears the German name of ‘ Ein- 
korn.’ It is said to be ‘rust proof.’ 
In discussing the problem of the best varieties 
for this country the author says that, ‘‘ consid- 
ering all qualities, the best wheats in the world 
are of Russian origin, coming particularly from 
eastern and southern Russia. They are re- 
sistant to cold and drought, and are more or 
less resistant to leaf rust, and have the best 
quality of grain.’’ Considerable space is given 
in the bulletin to the discussion of the means 
for the improvement of wheat aside from the 
mere introduction of valuable varieties. This 
is brought about by selection, and hybridization 
or ‘breeding.’ Examples of the latter are 
shown in a colored plate. The paper closes 
with a summary which contains many valuable 
practical suggestions. 
CHARLES E. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
THE officers of the International Association 
of Academies, which met last month at Paris, 
areas follows: Honorary Presidents, Dr. Momm- 
sen, M. de Goeje, Sir Michael Foster, M. Ber- 
thelot, and M. Gaston Boissier; Acting Presi- 
dent, M. Darboux ; Vice-President, Dr. Diels; 
Secretaries, MM. Gomperz and Moissan. M. 
Darboux made an address of welcome, but 
otherwise the scientific work of the meeting has 
not been made public. We regret to learn that 
Professor G. L. Goodale, delegate from the 
National Academy of Sciences, was unable to 
