396 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1081 



found to be resistant to tlie fungus, but individual 

 plants were found that were nearly immune. Since 

 the celery flower is self -pollinated a method for 

 future work is at once suggested, e. g., the selec- 

 tion of the immune plants as parents upon which 

 to build immune strains of celery. 



In a second paper, Mr. Zundel discussed the evo- 

 lution of celery. Celery has been known to man- 

 kind for centuries. The Greeks and Eomans used 

 it mostly as a medical plant. They attributed to it 

 great curative powers. Its native habitat is given 

 as ranging from Sweden to the Mediterranean and 

 into British India. It is known botanically as 

 Apium graveolens L. The early English name for 

 celery was smallage and later it was known as 

 salary. The Greeks called it EUoselinon or marsh 

 parsley. Abercombie, in 1778, gives the first list 

 of named varieties of celery. He gives four va- 

 rieties, all of which originated on the large estates 

 of titled gentlemen. Celery was at this time re- 

 garded as a luxury for the tables of titled gentle- 

 men. The introduction, about 1883, of the Golden 

 Self Blanching and White Plume celery revolu- 

 tionized the celery industry of America. 



G. P. Eixford, of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, told of the pistachio nut, which he believes 

 will become a crop of some importance in parts of 

 the south and west. 



C. O. Smith, of the University of California, 

 gave particulars of a method of inoculating plants 

 to determine their comparative resistance to dis- 

 ease, in breeding work. 



Prank S. Harris and J. C. Hogenson, Utah Agri- 

 cultural College, discussed some correlations in 

 sugar beets. It was found that the larger beets 

 had the smaller sugar content; a number of other 

 correlations were cited, which facilitate beet breed- 

 ing. 



G. N. Collins and J. H. Kempton, of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, described a bigenerie 

 grass hybrid {Tripsaeum dactyloides X Euchlcene 

 mexicana) which shows no trace of the influence 

 of the seed parent. Some reasons were given for 

 thinking that it is not parthenogenetic. 



W. A. Setchell and T. H. Goodspeed, of the 

 University of California, conducted the meeting 

 on a tour of their tobacco-breeding experiments. 



At the closing general session of the association, 

 Friday afternoon, August 6, Mrs. Myrtle Shepherd 

 Prancis, of Ventura, Calif., related her experience 

 in breeding double seeding Petunias, and ex- 

 hibited specimens. 



H. Hayward, Delaware Experiment Station, 

 spoke on inbreeding. Pearl's method for measur- 



ing accurately the degree to which an animal is 

 inbred has caused a revision of many ideas on the 

 subject. It has been found, for instance, that 

 some of the famous sires of Bates, Booth and the 

 C'oUings, were not nearly as much inbred as is popu- 

 larly supposed. Breeding experiments with pigs, 

 conducted at the Delaware station under careful 

 control, have satisfied the speaker that when in- 

 breeding is carried beyond a certain point, de- 

 terioration is inevitable. It is difficult to fix any 

 arbitrary point, however, as the limit of safety. 



Isabel McCracken, of Stanford University, de- 

 scribed Mendelian breeding experiments with silk- 

 worms. 



J. H. Kempton, of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, described the result of a long series 

 of breeding experiments with maize. 



Albert F. Etter, of Briceland, Calif., told of his 

 work in strawberry breeding, in which he has 

 crossed commercial varieties with the beach straw- 

 berry of the Pacific coast, with the alpine species, 

 and others. Plants much more resistant and pro- 

 ductive than any present commercial variety have 

 been obtained, and the berries offer a wide range 

 of desirable commercial characters. 



C. L. Eedfield, of Chicago, defended his theory 

 of dynamic evolution, maintaining that such func- 

 tional qualities as speed in race horses, or milk- 

 production in cows, are developed by work and 

 that the results of this development are then trans- 

 mitted to the offspring. He declared that no single 

 instance has ever been cited where this rule was 

 violated. 



C. L. Lewis, of the Oregon Agricultural College, 

 speaking on plant-breeding problems of the Pacific 

 Coast, declared it was a mistake to think there were 

 plenty of good varieties of fruit already in exist- 

 ence; that in nearly every field the genetist was 

 needed. He cited many cases to prove his point. 



It was decided to continue holding the meetings 

 of the American Genetic Association in connection 

 with those of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. A committee headed by 

 Herbert J. Webber and comprising R. Ruggles 

 Gates, George H. Shull, W. E. Castle, Raymond 

 Pearl, H. S. Jennings and Paul Popenoe, was ap- 

 pointed on nomenclature, with the particular re- 

 quest that it consider suitable definitions of in- 

 breeding and linebreeding, which could be agreed 

 on by genetists and practical breeders, and relieve 

 the confusion which now attends the use of these 

 two words. 



Paul Popenoe, 

 Secretary pro tern. 



