126 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 969 



been granted a year's leave of absence for 

 travel and study abroad, and Dean E. K. Gra- 

 ham has been appointed to act in his stead; 

 Professor M. H. Stacy, of the department of 

 civil engineering, will act as dean of the col- 

 lege of liberal arts in place of Professor Gra- 

 ham; Robert L. James, G.E. (Cornell), has 

 been appointed assistant professor of drawing; 

 Parker H. Daggett, S.B. (Harvard), has been 

 promoted from associate professor of electrical 

 engineering to full professor in charge of the 

 department; James M. Bell, Ph.D. (Cornell), 

 formerly associate professor of physical chem- 

 istry, becomes full professor; W. L. Jeffries, 

 A.M. (University of North Carolina), has 

 been appointed instructor in chemistry. 



Dr. p. G. Stiles, assistant professor of 

 physiology at Simmons College, has been 

 elected instructor in physiology in Harvard 

 University. 



Dr. Karl von Auwers, professor of chem- 

 istry at Greifswald, has accepted a call to 

 Marburg, as successor to Professor Th. Zincke. 



DISCUSSION AND COBSESPONDENCE 



COLOR CORRELATION IN GARDEN BEANS 



The note by Professor Hedrick on page 917 

 about the correlation of the color of the inside 

 of the calyx cup and flesh of the peach is in- 

 teresting. A similar correlation in garden 

 beans has recently been observed at this sta- 

 tion. 



The blossom colors of many varieties of 

 beans have been described as either white, 

 light pink or pink, and most of the common 

 varieties can readily be referred to one of 

 these classes, though some varieties of the sev- 

 eral classes may differ slightly among them- 

 selves '.in the depth and distribution of color. 



There seem to be definite and constant cor- 

 relations between these blossom colors and the 

 color of the seed coat. A white or eyed bean is 

 always white flowered unless possibly when the 

 eye is very large. A white-flowered variety may 

 have mottled or self-colored beans, but a genu- 

 ine black pigment, such as seen in the black wax 

 varieties, never accompanies a white or light 

 pink, but always a pink flower. I do not re- 



call any exception to this last. The bean may- 

 be pure black or mottled, with black appearing 

 in the mottling, but in either case the flower is 

 a pretty constant shade of pink. Sometimes 

 a light pink flower may be associated with very 

 dark colored seeds, yet their color is distinct 

 from the genuine black of the black wax beans. 



In general light pink flowers are associated 

 with mottled or self-colored seeds of various 

 shades of yellow, red and brown, but, as indi- 

 cated above, never with a genuine black pig- 

 ment, nor with white or eyed beans unless pos- 

 sibly when the eye is very large. It is prob- 

 ably due to the various seed coat colors that 

 the flowers classed as light pink vary as much 

 as they do among themselves; they are not as 

 uniform as those classed as pink. 



Just where the connection is between the 

 blossom and seed coat color is not obvious but 

 it is certain that there is some connection. 

 JSTot only are the times of manifestation of the 

 colors far apart, but there is no obvious re- 

 semblance between the colors. Why should a 

 black bean arise from a pink or more exactly 

 a purplish pink flower? Yet there must be 

 some connection, and it would seem reasonable 

 to believe that they arise from a common 

 cause : that the plant possesses some pigments 

 producing substance capable of producing one 

 color in the flower and an apparently entirely 

 different color in the seed coat. 



J. K. Shaw 

 Massachusetts Experiment Station, 

 Amherst, Mass. 



a new method for labeling microscopic 



SLIDES 



It is very desirable that permanent micro- 

 scopic mounts have permanent labels. Ordi- 

 nary labels, even if of the best manufacture, 

 are unsatisfactory, because the adhesive prop- 

 erty of the glue becomes impaired with age. 

 The so-called " Diamond Ink " which may be 

 easily applied to glass, produces an etched 

 surface which may be vsrritten upon and a 

 permanent label obtained. This ink, how- 

 ever, is only sold by certain firms and as a 

 consequence is not easily obtained. 



