December 29, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



919 



a series of experiments in which blaclt and 

 chocolate mice were crossed through several 

 generations, the spotting in the heterozygous 

 mice — known to be such — was very prevalent. 

 Finally, that even dilute colors are them- 

 selves modifiable by the condition of the ani- 

 mal when the next coat is formed was illus- 

 trated by some of the cases that I described, 

 and is a phenomenon well knovm to breeders 

 of animals. It is true that such cases do not 

 show the animals to be heterozygous and there- 

 fore the presence of spots can not in itself be 

 taken as a safe criterion of that condition. 

 But my evidence showed that heterozygous 

 mice frequently give evidence of their dual 

 nature. In other cases also, as in the pomace 

 fly, where I have found a dominant and a re- 

 cessive character both present in the same in- 

 dividual, breeding tests have shown such in- 

 dividuals to be heterozygous. 



T. H. Morgan 



QUOTATIONS 



THE ROYAL SOCIETY 



At the anniversary meeting of the Royal 

 Society yesterday afternoon the president 

 made an announcement of unusual interest. 

 On July 15 of next year the society will have 

 been in existence for two centuries and a 

 half; and it has been decided to celebrate 

 the occasion in the manner prescribed by 

 custom for such functions of retrospection 

 and congratulation. For this particular 

 function a new descriptive word seems neces- 

 sary. It is not a jubilee, or a centenary, or 

 a bicentenary, or a tercentenary, with all of 

 which we have been made familiar, but some- 

 thing compounded of a bicentenary and a 

 jubilee. Some compendious title seems to be 

 required, but Sir Archibald Geikie managed 

 to do without one, and what the Eoyal Society 

 has been unable to invent it would be rash on 

 the part of any other authority to supply. 

 We must all be content to say that the Eoyal 

 Society is going to celebrate the 250th anni- 

 versary of its foundation. The chief univer- 

 sities, academies, scientific societies and other 

 institutions in this country, in the dominions 



and abroad are to be invited to send delegates 

 to take part in the ceremony, of the impor- 

 tance of which the king, as patron of the 

 society, has been pleased to express his appre- 

 ciation. In view of the high place held by 

 the Eoyal Society among the scientific insti- 

 tutions of the world, and of the eminent serv- 

 ices which by universal consent it has ren- 

 dered to science, there can be no doubt that 

 the response to its invitation will be ample 

 and generous. Next year will witness a large 

 and brilliant gathering of men of science 

 from every part of the civilized world, eager 

 to testify to the respect which the long history 

 of the Eoyal Society has inspired among all 

 seekers after natural knowledge. Though the 

 principles of the great quest are always the 

 same, two and a half centuries bring many 

 and profound changes in methods and condi- 

 tions. Many ideas once cherished have to be 

 dropped, and many new ones assimilated. 

 Fundamental theories become outworn, and 

 the most fruitful hypotheses, having served 

 their purpose, have to give place to newer 

 generalizations. The best proof of the vitality 

 of the Eoyal Society is that it has survived 

 all these transformations, and that it holds its 

 place to-day, as in earlier years, in the van of 

 the great army of students of the laws and 

 structure of the universe. 



Though the progress of science has been 

 continuous through the long period covered 

 by the lifetime of the Eoyal Society, the rate 

 of progress has not been by any means uni- 

 form. The great intellectual upheaval of the 

 renaissance gave a powerful impulse to scien- 

 tific inquiry, after centuries of extremely slow 

 progress. But that special impulse in turn 

 exhausted its strength, and was followed by 

 a period of smaller achievement. The end of 

 the eighteenth century saw the beginning of 

 another great era of activity, which continues 

 to the present day in shapes that more and 

 more conform to Bacon's contention that the 

 pursuit of knowledge should be directed to 

 the improvement of the conditions of human 

 existence. Men now living have been wit- 

 nesses of a great transformation, at least in 



