January 1, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



27 



the seed midge, Cecidomyia leguminicola Lint- 

 ner, arrested tlie growth of the clover corolla, 

 usually causing it to project but slightly from 

 the throat of the calyx, while its base became 

 crustaceous, forming a hardened case about 

 the growing larva. At the same time the 

 pistil became aborted, its growth being ar- 

 rested before fertilization, while, together with 

 the stamens, it was pushed aside by the grow- 

 ing larva. The attacks of Bruchophagus 

 funebris (Howard) does not prevent the com- 

 plete or nearly complete development of the 

 corolla, which, in this case, does not become 

 crustaceous. The ovary becomes nearly ma- 

 ture, its hardened portion being fully formed. 

 The seed attains nearly full size, but instead 

 of being normally violet or yellow, plump and 

 shining, it is brown, dull and somewhat 

 shrunken. The kernel of the seed is prac- 

 tically exhausted, leaving the seed coat as a 

 frail shell. 



These essential differences in the life his- 

 tories of the insects shown in their effects on 

 the clover flowers and fruits appear to afford 

 conclusive evidence of the eoi-rectness of Pro- 

 fessor Hopkins's opinion that Bruchophagus 

 funebris feeds on the clover seed and is not 

 parasitic on the seed midge, as has been be- 

 lieved. 



An examination by the author of 32 red 

 clover heads showed 53 per cent, of the seed 

 farmed to be uninjured, while 4Y per cent, 

 was destroyed by the Bruclwphagus. 



Enlarged figures showing the structures 

 discussed were displayed. 



Charles Hallock spoke on the subject of 

 ' Sea Trout where no Rivers Are,' the object 

 of the communication being to establish the 

 point that the sea trout is not a fresh-water 

 species with marine habits, but primarily a 

 resident of salt water. It was stated that the 

 sea trout of the Shetland Islands and the 

 Labrador coast, which attain a weight of 

 twenty pounds, do not enter rivers to spavsm, 

 nor do more than a moiety of the Canadian 

 sea trout, the bulk of these spavining in estu- 

 aries in tide water. While these trout were 

 structurally identical with the fresh-water 

 species, they differed widely from the latter 

 in habits, range, food and appearance, and the 



speaker considered that these facts should be 

 allowed due weight in differentiating between 

 species. In the course of his remarks Mr. 

 Hallock intimated that the salmon of the At- 

 lantic coast passed the salt-water portion of 

 their life in the subarctic belt, being attracted 

 thither by the abundance of coastwise food. 

 The fourth paper of the evening, entitled 

 ' The Vegetative Vigor of Hybrids and Muta- 

 tions,' was read by Mr. O. F. Cook. Hybrids 

 and mutations were interpreted as represent- 

 ing opposite side-paths of the evolutionary 

 thoroughfare, the free interbreeding of nu- 

 merous moderately diverse individuals being 

 the best condition for evolutionary progress. 

 A declining reproductive power characterizes 

 both of these extreme types of variation, but 

 is often accompanied by unusual vegetative 

 vigor. Physiological and selective explana- 

 tions of this paradox appear to be inadequate, 

 but from the standpoint of a kinetic theory 

 of evolution it was suggested that the vigor 

 is the same as that of normal variations and 

 crosses, while the relative or complete sterility 

 may be due in both cases to the absence of 

 normal interbreeding, which also induces ab- 

 rupt variations or aberrations of heredity. 

 Vegetative vigor does not, therefore, conflict 

 with the view that hybrids and mutations are 

 degenerative variations. F. A. Lucas. 



ANTHEOPOLOGIOAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 349th meeting was held on November 

 3, 1903. 



Professor W J McGee gave an account of 

 the work performed by the American Anthro- 

 pological Association at the recent meeting 

 held in New York and also gave a resume of 

 the work of the Department of Anthropology 

 of the World's Fair at St. Louis. 



Mr. Goddard, of the University of Cali- 

 fornia, was present and was invited to address 

 the society. He told of the investigations 

 being carried on in the language, folk-lore 

 and ceremonials of the Indians of California 

 by the Ethnological and Archeological Survey 

 of the state. He spoke of the extinction of 

 stocks and the decay of customs and urged 

 the aid of students before it is too late. 



Dr. John E. Swanton gave a communication 



