186 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 554. 



characteristics of the new species make their 

 appearance seem not without significance. In 

 some there is an immediate and complete ob- 

 literation of the Lamarchiana characters, 

 while in others, as in the ' atavism ' of 0. nan- 

 ella, the new characters replace those of the old 

 only at a later period of development. Such 

 cases as that of Trifolium, in which there was 

 a working back into the embryo of the divided 

 condition of the leaf as the number of leaflets 

 characteristic of the mature plants increased 

 offer suggestion for an important phase of 

 statistical investigation. Investigations of 

 the seedlings of some of the teratological 

 ' varieties ' may be expected to yield results 

 of great interest, especially when taken up 

 from the experimental and historical point of 

 view. 



The chief object of the study of seedling- 

 stages, phylogeny, is dependent for its realiza- 

 tion upon the validity of the recapitulation 

 theory. In many cases this seems to hold, 

 but, as pointed out above, a broad, compara- 

 tive investigation of minor groups is impera- 

 tive. Results of importance are assured. 

 Developmental stages in the same group will 

 generally show either a close similarity or 

 present a series of perplexing differences. The 

 conclusion in the one case will be that com- 

 munity of descent or identical environmental 

 conditions are responsible. In the other case 

 — and of this a considerable number of stri- 

 king illustrations might be cited — polyphyletic 

 origin of groups hitherto supposed to be mono- 

 phyletic must be assumed, or the differences 

 must be accounted for on the ground of 

 adaptation or mutation and the importance of 

 ontogeny as a key to phylogeny greatly re- 

 stricted. With reference to seedling stages 

 the statement that ontogeny recapitulates 

 phylogeny must be made with great reserve. 

 Doubtless it has here an evolutionary signifi- 

 cance, but its application is a matter of seri- 

 ous import. It seems to me that in vast 

 numbers of cases, the sweeping back of later 

 developed characters in the natvire of adapta- 

 tions to environment or otherwise has oblit- 

 erated ancestral features, especially the super- 

 ficial ones, to such an extent tnat an attempt 



to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree is quite 

 out of the question. 



In the examination of seedling stages, ex- 

 perimental morphology may find, as we have 

 already suggested above, a fertile field for 

 research in the determination of the degree of 

 plasticity of juvenile and adult types. Some 

 structures seera to be merely the result of the 

 direct environmental influence, but others 

 can not be modified by the changing of condi- 

 tions. Some characters seem to be well fixed, 

 while others are apparently merely the prod- 

 uct of immediate influences of the environ- 

 ment. While phylogeny is the chief end, ex- 

 perimental morphology may find in seedling 

 stages material of value for use in the formula- 

 tion and solution of some of its fundamental 

 problems. J. Arthur Harris. 



Missouri Bota^'ical Garden and 

 Washington University, St. Louis. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 

 CYCLOIvTIC AND ANTICYCLONIC TEMPERATURES. 



A VERY useful summary of ' Various Re- 

 searches on the Temperature in Cyclones and 

 Anticyclones in Temperate Latitudes ' has 

 been prepared by H. Helm Clayton, of Blue 

 Hill Observatory, and is published in Beitrage 

 zur Physik der freien Atmosphdre, Vol. I., 

 No. 3, 1905. It is probably known to men of 

 science generally that one of the most inter- 

 esting of present-day problems in meteorology 

 concerns the origin of the cyclones and anti- 

 cyclones which are such characteristic phe- 

 nomena of the prevailing westerly wind belts, 

 and constantly impress themselves upon us 

 by reason of their control of our weather 

 changes. Mr. Clayton presents an outline of 

 the work of Hann, Dechevrens, Berson, Teis- 

 serenc de Bort, Rotch and others, including 

 his own important results ; points out the con- 

 tradiction which exists between the conclu- 

 sions of those who believe that cyclones are 

 colder than anticyclones and those who find 

 them to be warmer, and gives it as his opinion 

 that both sets of investigators may be partly 

 right. The author calls attention to the fact 

 that those who have found the cyclone colder 

 have considered the temperature in relation 



