November 22, i88g.] 



SCIENCE. 



35S 



thorough re- investigation of certain parts of this subject began. 

 One may be pardoned for asking whether the objectives known 

 as apocliromatics are to open up in this field new lines of research. 

 Can these recent discoveries relative to the continuity of proto- 

 plasm and the genetic relationship of the associated granules (in- 

 cluding, in the widest sense, the nucleus) be made to cast any 

 light on the question of development, as they certainly do upon the 

 kindred question of adaptation? The answer has been given us 

 very lately by Hugo de Vries of Amsterdam. This investigator, 

 who has done very much to clear up certain obscurities in regard 

 to the external relations of the cell, has recently revised the neg- 

 lected doctrine of pangenesis, and applied it to the question just 

 propounded. De Vries suggests that we divide the hypothesis of 

 pangenesis as proposed by Darwin into two parts, as follows : i. 

 In every germ-cell, individual characters of the whole organism 

 are represented by material particles, which, by their multiplica- 

 tion, transmit to descendants all of such peculiarities; 2. All the 

 cells of the organism throw off, at certain periods of development, 

 such material particles, which flow towards the germ-cells, sup- 

 plying its deficiencies. Now, De Vries asks whether it is not high 

 time for us to look at the first part of this hypothesis again, and 

 abandon the hinderances which the latter part imposes. If we 

 accept his suggestion, and restate the hypothesis, in view of what 

 has been learned relative to the nucleus and other granules (the 

 trophoplasts) within the cell, we should then read, " In every cell 

 at a growing part are all the elements ready for multiplication. 

 Each protoplast possesses the organs necessary for continuous 

 transmission ; the nucleus for new nuclei, the trophoplasts for new 

 granules of all kinds, according to the needs of the plant." 



The author reviews the theories bearing on the question, from 

 the so-called plastidules of Elsberg to the germ-plasma of Weis- 

 mann, and then applies his hypotheses of intracellular pangenesis 

 to the different parts of a single plant, and to the transmission 

 of peculiarities. The active particles recognized in Darwin's 

 hypothesis he terms " pangens," and, regarding them as vehicles 

 of hereditary characters, traces them throughout their course. He 

 is not obliged to ask for any means of transportation for these 

 pangens, for they work, so to speak, on the spot. They are ready 

 at hand at the points of growth. We must look very sharply with 

 reference to this at two points of growth in the flowering plant ; 

 namely, the bud and the seed. Each bud, with its growing point 

 made up of cells containing in their protoplasm the divisible gran- 

 ules, carries with itself all the peculiarities which have been trans- 

 mitted without appreciable change. In the formation of the bud 

 there is fission, but no blending. The cells divide, and each new 

 one may in turn divide until the ultimate form of the leafy branch 

 or flower is reached. In the leafy branch new buds form, and in 

 their turn carry forward the ancestral peculiarities ; but in the 

 flower, on the other hand, with the formation of the ovule all de- 

 ■ velopment is arrested (except in the rare cases of parthenogenesis 

 and the like) unless the protoplasm of the embryonal sac receives 

 a new impetus from material contributed by the pollen grain ; and 

 in this blending of parts which have developed under different ex- 

 ternal conditions, we see that there is a chance for variation to 

 come in. Not only is there a blending of the nuclei, but a sharing 

 of the accompanying trophoplasts. How this can be applied to 

 the lower plants and other organisms cannot now be referred to. 

 It would not be right to hold De Vries wholly responsible for the 

 application just given, but I ask you whether the hypothesis does 

 not appear fruitful. It seems likely to stimulate speculation and 

 further research in this important field. 



In view of De Vries' work, and of the results of recent study, 

 which I have endeavored to bring before you this afternoon, does 

 not the statement of Darwin possess new force ? — "An organic 

 being is a microcosm, a little universe formed of a host of self- 

 propagating organisms inconceivably minute, and as numerous as 

 the stars in heaven." 



Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. have in press a biography of Wilbur 

 Fisk, the Methodist minister, by Professor George Prentice of Wes- 

 leyan University, to form the second volume in their new series of 

 American Religious Leaders. 



THE ORNITHOLOGISTS' MEETING. 

 The seventh congress of the American- Ornithologists' Union 

 began its session in the rooms of the American Museum of Natural 

 History in this city, Nov. 12. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, from the 

 committee on the migration and geographical distribution of birds^ 

 reported that no progress had been made in studying migration ; 

 but the Agricultural Department, he said, is now engaged in work 

 relating to floral and faunal distribution. Individual species of 

 birds are first located and mapped, and then these maps are co- 

 ordinated so as to define the natural floral and faunal areas of the 

 country. These maps will be colored so that one may see at a 

 glance the boundaries in which certain flora and fauna abound. 

 Dr. Robert W. Shufeldt, from the committee on the anatomy of 

 birds, reported the progress made in the study of this anatomy for 

 the years 1888 and 1889. The report named the books that had 

 been published in Europe and America on this subject during the 

 last two years. George B. Bennett, from the committee on the 

 protection of North American birds, reported that the committee 

 was doing what it could to protect useful birds and destroy others. 

 They encouraged boys to kill sparrows, but to spare other birds.. 

 The New York law for the protection of birds was defective. 

 This was to be regretted, for New York is the great market. The 

 Pennsylvania law had been drawn with a knowledge of the defect 

 in the New York law, and is the best law now in existence in any 

 State. 



On Wednesday, the 13th, Jonathan Dwight, jun., read a paper 

 on " Birds that have struck the Statue of Liberty, Bedloe's Island, 

 New York Harbor." He said, that, on account of its lighter color^ 

 more birds strike the pedestal to the statue than the statue itself,. 

 The statue was erected too late in i§86 for the migratory birds^ 

 The first to strike it was on May 19, 1887, and the next late in August, 

 when the lights were said to be put out by birds. The first date 

 at which birds struck the statue in 1889 was Aug. 5, when fourteen 

 were killed. A few others were killed during the month, and a con- 

 siderable number in September and October. Oct. 24 was the last 

 date at which birds were killed. The whole number killed this, 

 year was 690, which was considerably less than in 1888 or 1887.. 

 He found that every cold wave in the early fall was followed by 

 migratory birds flying against the statue. Of the dead birds picked: 

 up this year, 60 per cent belonged to one species, the Maryland 

 yellow-throats. The remaining 40 per cent included a great vari- 

 ety. A paper on " The Abundance of the Wild Pigeon in Central 

 and Eastern New York in 1835," prepared by Professor R. W.. 

 Whitfield, was read by Mr. Dutcher. Early in the sixties there 

 was a great flight of pigeons in the Hudson valley. Flocks were 

 so large that one could not see their extent, and they cast shadows 

 like clouds. Dr. C. Hart Merriam said the gregarious habits of 

 pigeons had made their struggle for existence peculiarly hard, be-- 

 cause they were so liable to attack on their breeding-ground. The- 

 result was, the few survivors have learned to abandon the old 

 habits, and they now scatter and breed in isolated pairs. There 

 was no danger that they would be exterminated. A paper was. 

 read by Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, entitled " Observations on the Avi-. 

 fauna of Arizona." After brief discussion. Dr. C. Hart Merrianv 

 read a paper entitled " Remarks on San Francisco Mountain and. 

 Vicinity (Arizona) from the Faunal Standpoint." " The Winter- 

 Distribution of the Bobolink, with Remarks on its Routes of Mi- 

 gration," was the subject of a paper by Frank M. Chapman. Af- 

 ter some discussion, Mr. Chapman read another paper, " On the 

 Changes of Plumage in the Bobolink." 



At Thursday's session Mr. Leverett M. Loomis read a paper,^ 

 giving his observations on some of the summer birds of the alpine 

 portions of Pickens County, S. C. Col. N. S. Goss, State ornithologist, 

 of Kansas, read two brief papers, — one on the question whether 

 the poor-will and the frosted are varieties of the same species, or 

 distinct ; and the other on " The Mottled Duck in Kansas." 

 Jonathan Dwight, jun., read a paper on " Some Birds observed 

 near the Straits of Mackinaw during 1888." In a search for a 

 pigeon-roost, Mr. Dwight came upon a parade-ground of migrat- 

 ing birds in Michigan, and, in a few days following the 20th of 

 May, secured a great number. He had prepared a list of 119 

 species thus secured. Dr. Edgar A. Mearns read a paper, " The 

 Western Form of the Warbling Vireo." Mr. William Brewster 



