940 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 650 



I have been looking for fixity in zoological 

 names, but that desirable condition seems 

 further off than ever. It is all very well to 

 indulge in these antiquarian researches, these 

 games of taxonomic logomachy, if they be 

 recognized as such, but the players fail to 

 realize one thing: Names «£ animals and 

 plants are but means for easy reference; 

 nomenclature is not the end and object of all 

 biological science. 



The sanest word in all this discussion has, 

 in my opinion, been said by Dr. Williston, 

 This digging up of forgotten screeds means 

 but the relegating of the great masters of the 

 past to a secondary position; this framing of 

 ex post facto laws offers a precedent for the 

 future subject of that intolerable disease once 

 known as the ' mihi itch ' to set aside as 

 lightly the laborious schemes of the sciolists 

 of to-day. 



Biologists may apparently be divided into 

 two groups: One contains those who find 

 great enjoyment in renaming things already 

 well named and who regard names as the 

 object of all science. The other group have 

 something to tell us about animals and plants 

 and they regard names merely as means of 

 identification of the forms referred to. Cer- 

 tainly they have some rights which should be 

 considered. Must they run through the 

 gamut of Triton, Triturus, Molge, etc., every 

 time the systematist changes his mind? 

 Must I know the mental make-up — radical or 

 conservative — of the biologist to know what 

 he means when he refers to Vca or to Acer 

 saccharinumf An article deals with Esox; 

 does it treat of a pike or a needle fish? 



The safest way for the morphologist or the 

 ecologist is to stick to the well-accepted, time- 

 honored names and to utterly ignore the 

 vagaries of the nominalist. The question once 

 was ' Who reads an American book ? ' If the 

 present tendency continues it will soon be 

 ' Who can read an American biological 

 work ? ' It would be most desirable that at 

 the coming Zoological Congress a morphol- 

 ogist or two should be added to the committee 

 on nomenclature to act as a balance wheel. 



J. S. KiNGSLEY 



A COEEECTION 



To THE Editor op Science: A statement on 

 page 452 of Science of March 22 requires a 

 rectification in the interest of the unprejudiced 

 reader. 



The sentence in question reads as follows : 



These results show conclusively that magnesium 

 sulphate in proper dilution is beneficial to- the 

 growth of seedlings, and that any inhibitory effects 

 are due to the presence of excessive amounts, thus 

 controverting Loew's theory that magnesium salts 

 when alone in solution are always injurious to 

 plant growth. 



Permit me the following remarks regarding 

 this remarkable sentence : 



1. It is not a theory that magnesium salts 

 act poisonously on plants; it is a fact. 



2. Not only Loew, but also others have ob- 

 served the same fact. Loew has merely 

 furnished an explanation well in accord with 

 certain -observations. 



3. The doses at which magnesium salts, ap- 

 plied alone, are poisonous for plants can im- 

 possibly be called excessive, since even at 

 0.02 per cent, a poisonous action of magne- 

 sium salts on algae can be observed, while 

 calcium nitrate is not in the least injurious 

 for algas at even 1 per cent. 



4. It is a well-known fact that many com- 

 pounds that act poisonously at a certain con- 

 centration can act in very high dilution as 

 stimulants of growth. 



5. It is erroneous to attribute this stimula- 

 ting action to any nutritive quality of the 

 poison. 



The unprejudiced reader who desires some 

 information as to the nutritive role of magne- 

 sium salts in plants and to the conditions 

 under which this function can be performed, 

 is kindly requested to consult Bulletin No. 

 45 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, ' The 

 Physiological Eole of Mineral Nutrients in 

 Plants,' Washington, 1903. 0. Loew 



Imperial Univeesity of Tokyo, Japan, • 

 April, 1907 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE BEHAVIOR OF THE SEEDLINGS OF CERTAIN 

 VIOLET HYBRIDS 



During the summer of 1906 I raised plants 

 from the seeds of twenty-five different hybrids 



