136 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1100 



2. I have taken strains riddled witti cancer 

 and by the type of breeding tests described in 

 my published work have eliminated the dis- 

 ease absolutely from the strain and its hybrids. 



3. A mass of data still unpublished shows 

 that these things can be done not only with 

 cancer in general, but also with cancer of 

 specific organs and of specific types. 



The persistent criticism of my " unortho- 

 dox " results in color transmission in this hal- 

 lowed cross between an albino and a house- 

 mouse only serves to confuse the issue with re- 

 gard to the question of cancer inheritance; 

 and if Dr. Little wishes to criticize my cancer 

 work further, in the interests of logic I ask 

 him to do so on the lines of my cancer work 

 and not on the basis of color transmission. 



It is impossible to agree with Dr. Little that 

 any reference to " the great laws of heredity " 

 must necessarily refer only to Mendel's laws, 

 since every student of genetics knows that 

 there is a vast array of facts of heredity 

 which by no possible compression can be 

 forced within the limits of these laws. Espe- 

 cially does every worker with the coat colors 

 of mice know this fact. Perhaps an amend- 

 ment may in time be added to those theories 

 now supposed by Dr. Little to be a closed issue 

 like the Koran. 



ra 



The publication of my results in color trans- 

 mission will be attended to in due time. These 

 data belong with a mass of facts collected in 

 the study of the inheritability of coat pattern. 

 It would be impossible to get this material in 

 form for immediate publication without seri- 

 ously neglecting experiments now under way 

 in the study of cancer. 



Maud Slye 



The Otto S. A. Spkagde Memorial Institute 



A MOLLUSK INJURIOUS TO GARDEN 

 VEGETABLES 



During the past summer a small slug or 

 Limax was noted to be injuring garden vege- 

 tables of several kinds. It seemed rather large 

 for the common Agriolimax agrestis (Linne) 



and specimens were submitted to Dr. H. A. 

 Pilsbry for an opinion. They were found to 

 be this species. Both underground vegetables 

 and the leaves of the plants were attacked. In 

 Canandaigua they were observed to attack 

 potatoes, the mollusk frequently eating a hole 

 in the tuber as large as its own body. As 

 many as a dozen potatoes were observed to be 

 thus eaten. In the same garden this slug at- 

 tacked the string beans, eating into the full 

 pods and consuming the beans. In Rochester, 

 a garden was examined in which the potatoes 

 were affected in the same manner as those at 

 Canandaigua. In Syracuse, this slug was ob- 

 served in cauliflower, in company with the 

 smaller black slug, Agriolimax campesiris 

 (Binney). Some lettuce was also eaten by 

 these mollusks. It is probable that this slug 

 (agrestis) may become a pest in some local- 

 ities. 



Agriolimax agrestis is very abundant about 

 Syracuse, in the east end, the hill portion, 

 where one may see dozens of the slugs crawl- 

 ing on the sidewalk after a rain in a manner 

 similar to the earthworms. This is partic- 

 ularly true on Euclid Avenue, where the mor- 

 ainic hills border the sidewalk on the south 

 side. This brown slug as well as its smaller 

 black relative is abundant in the woods and 

 fields in and around Syracuse. 



Frank Collins Baker 



New York State College of Forestry, 

 Syracuse University 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



La Science Frangaise. Librairie Larousse, 

 Paris, 1915. 2 Vols. Pp. 396 and 403. 

 Illustrated with portraits. 

 The dominance of German science during 

 our generation seems to have been rather gen- 

 erally accepted, a principal cause of which is 

 clearly seen in efficiency of organization essen- 

 tially military in its nature. With attention 

 now focused upon German efficiency, it is pos- 

 sible to discern certain elements of this suc- 

 cess which before had been obscure. The sys- 

 tematic German mind, with its pertinacity and 

 indefatigability of purpose, has found one of 

 its expressions in the preparation of exhaus- 



