January 7, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



37 



tering about the hilum. (4) Like (2) or (3), 

 but the color extending over the strophiolar end 

 of the seed. (5) Like (4), but in addition scat- 

 tered isolated spots. (6) The whole seed colored 

 excepting a small area at the micropylar end. 

 These types of distribution are identical for all 

 the colors, and in this respect the marbled and 

 speckled colors act like simple colors; for ex- 

 ample, a cross between whippoorwill, a marbled 

 seed and black eye gives a white seed with a 

 marbled coloring about the eye. It is evident 

 from what hybridizing has been done and the 

 varieties already in existence that there are per- 

 fectly definite factors determining the color dis- 

 tribution, the exact details of which will require 

 much further investigation. It is suggestive that 

 the coloring centers about the eye and in the dif- 

 ferent types extends farther and farther morpho- 

 logically from the eye, the last part of the seed 

 remaining white being the micropylar end. Tliis 

 is apparently in accordance with the path of 

 nutrient substances entering the seed as the 

 micropylar end is both morphologically and physi- 

 ologically farthest from the hilum. The distribu- 

 tion of color in the cowpea is much simpler and 

 quite diiferent from what it is in the beans, 

 which have been more carefully studied. In the 

 case of some cowpea hybrids, one color pattern 

 seems to be laid directly over the other as in 

 crosses between marbled and speckled varieties, 

 which results in hybrids having both the marbling 

 and the speckling. 



A Painful Skin Disease in Man Caused by a 



Predaceous and Supposedly Beneficial Mite: 



F. M. Webstek. 



Attention was called to epidemics of a derma- 

 titis due to a small mite ( Pediculoides ventri- 

 cosus) in various parts of the country. In the 

 easi;, the presence of these mites among wheat 

 straw was traced to the abundance of the larvte 

 of the Angoumois grain moth, while in the middle 

 west, its excessive abundance was due to the 

 presence of a wheat joint worm (Isosoma tritici) . 



As wheat straw is used largely in the manu- 

 facture of a cheap grade of mattresses, people 

 using these mattresses had experienced painful 

 eruption caused by the mites escaping from the 

 straw and attacking the occupants of the beds on 

 which the mattresses were used. In the middle 

 west, people handling wheat straw, either in 

 thrashing the grain or in bales, had been attacked 

 and suffered from the attacks of the mites. Owing 

 to the fact that this eruptive skin disorder af- 



fected whole families, it has been heretofore sup- 

 posed to be contagious. M. C. Mabsh, 



Recording Secretary 



THE ANTIIKOPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



At the 436th reg-ular meeting of the society, held 

 in University Hall, George Washington University, 

 November 9, 1909, Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, director 

 01 the American School of the Archaeological Insti- 

 tute of America, gave an account of the work of 

 the school during the past years. The lecture was 

 illustrated with stereopticon views. Dr. Hewett 

 first described and illustrated the work of the 

 Utah Branch, in immediate charge of Professor 

 Byron Cummings, of the State University of 

 Utah. He threw on the screen views of tlie large 

 natural bridge and of the two great cliff houses 

 lately discovered on the Navajo National Monu- 

 ment, northern Arizona. Archeological work is 

 now being done on the ruins on this reservation. 

 He showed also the method of work and the 

 results obtained in excavations conducted by the 

 American School at Puye and Rito de los Frijoles, 

 in New Mexico. Excavations at the former place 

 included work on the large community house on 

 the mesa, and on the cliff-dwelling at the base 

 of the cliff. He explained the relation of the 

 casas and the rooms built on top of the talus in 

 front of them. 



" The ancient remains of the Rito," said Dr. 

 Hewett, " consist of four community houses in the 

 valley and one on the mesa rim near the southern 

 limit of the caflon, and a series of cliff houses 

 extending for a distance of a mile and a quarter 

 along the base of the northern wall." The excava- 

 tion at the Rito revealed a type of ruin called a 

 talus village; thirteen of these ruins were recog- 

 nized. 



The field work of the school includes not only 

 excavation of ruins, but also repair of their walls 

 and in some minor cases restoration. 



Views were shown of the community house on 

 top of the mesa at the Rito, the trail worn to the 

 summit, an excavated kiva, a restored ceremonial 

 opening, a secular room provided witii a fireplace 

 and another with a mill (restored) for grinding 

 corn. It is contemplated to place in the excavated 

 rooms the more common domestic articles found 

 in them, so that in a field museum of this kind 

 these may be viewed in their proper setting. 



At the 437th regular meeting, December 7, 1909, 

 Dr. J. B. Clayton gave an illustrated lecture on 

 " Varying Values of the Cross Symbol." 



