828 



SCIENCE 



[N.S. Vol. XXV. No. 647 



tiomena in the unstable static conditions of 

 the outer layers of the sun. 



I am not aware that such a suggestion as 

 this has ever been made to account for 

 Sporer's law. Of course I see many objec- 

 tions to it. The improbability of such waves 

 long retaining their shape, and the observed 

 absence of sun spots in the north hemisphere 

 from 1672 to 1Y04, suggest themselves as 

 obstacles. J. A. TJdden 



Rock Island, III. 



african basketey weaves 

 A LARGE collection of ethnological specimens 

 recently received by the Museum of Natural 

 History, New York city, contains a selected 

 series of baskets from the Barotse and Bechu- 

 ana tribes. These baskets compare favorably 

 in technique and finish with those of Cali- 

 fornia and, what is of special interest, present 

 all the typical weaves knovra. in America. 

 Among the Barotse baskets alone we find the 

 following kinds of woven basketry: wicker, 

 checker, twill, wrapped, plain twine, open 

 twine, twilled twine, and the California 'ti.' 

 Also in coiled basketry, one rod coil, grass coil 

 closely covered, also with foundation showing 

 bifurcated coil closely covered, also with only 

 lines of stitching and coil without foundation. 

 The more elaborate manipulation of warp 

 elements or materials in general, seems not to 

 be practised, for there are neither cross-warp 

 checkers nor cross-warp twines in the collec- 

 tion. The edges, while of all types, represent 

 rather the refined variations. The thought of 

 solidity or stability seems to have been the 

 main idea. This is particularly well illus- 

 trated in the large rope coil and one-rod 

 foundation coil chests and storage baskets. 

 The technic is perfect and with the close-fit- 

 ting lids give exceptional protection to grain 

 or other contents. Strengthening by bands of 

 the ' ti ' weave, a technic heretofore thought 

 to be limited to the Porno Indians of Cali- 

 fornia, is found; also an unusual wrapped 

 twine, with the horizontal warp on the outside, 

 like some Aleutian burden baskets. 



The decorations in color occur chiefly in 

 coil baskets. The color of the designs is uni- 

 formly black. 



The main point of interest is that within a 

 definite ethnic area of South Central Africa 

 an aboriginal people practise basketry in 

 which are found practically all of the typical 

 weaves known to the world. 



Mary Lois Kjssell 

 American Museum of Natural History, 

 New York City 



the recuperative power of italian and eng- 

 lish workmen 



To THE Editor of Science: I am afraid 

 that the statements contained in the letter 

 of Mr. Joseph T. Bergen,* as to the re- 

 cuperative power of Italian and English work- 

 men may induce some readers to unwarranted 

 generalizations. 



A statement of the kind would have more 

 value if a comparison were made between the 

 diet and the conditions of people of the same 

 race and the same locality, provided in each 

 case there existed a sufiicieney of the articles 

 of diet. 



On the other hand, it is a known fact, that, 

 generally speaking, the rural population of 

 Europe has better recuperative powers than 

 the inhabitants of the cities, although the 

 latter eat much meat, while the country 

 people live almost exclusively on a vegetable 

 diet, meat being considered too expensive. 

 L. H. Baekeland 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



SOME LATENT CHARACTERS OP A WHITE BEAN° 



In order to secure material to display as 

 simple illustrations of Mendel's laws of domi- 

 nance and gametic purity, I made reciprocal 

 crosses last year (1904) among four different 

 varieties of the common bush bean. These 

 varieties were the ' Prolific black wax,' with 

 purple-black seeds, the ' Ne plus ultra ' with 

 yellow-brown seeds, the ' Long yellow six- 

 weeks ' with seeds of a light greenish-yellow 

 color, and the ' White flageolet,' whose seed- 

 coats are wholly without pigment, being trans- 

 parent when saturated with liquids, but nearly 

 white because of the inclusion of air when 

 dry. 



' Science, May 3, 1907, page 709. 

 -Read before the Botanical Society of America, 

 at New Orleans, December, 1905. 



