October 28, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



249 



Monstrous Poppy. 

 The monstrous poppy described by Mr. Clark in Science for 

 Oct. 7 is one of pistillody rather than -'gynandry,"' and it is by 

 no means so new a thing as he supposed. Masters (Veg. Teratol, 

 p. 304) describes and figures similar monstrosities, and refers to 

 Goeppert, who, as long ago as 18S0, " found numerous instances 

 of the kind in a field near Breslau." This pistillody of the poppy 

 is mentioned also by Frank {Krankheiten der Fflanzen, p 3.50), 

 who reproduces Master's figure. Charles E. Bessey. 



■University of Nebraska, Lincoln. 



Yeasts as Expounded in the "North American Revie;?." 



Why does Mr. Lookwood revive the old idea that yeasts " be- 

 get moulds?" In an intere-ting but inaccurate article entitled 

 "The Hygiene of the Atmosphere" in the North American Re- 

 view for this, mo aih there is the following paragraph : "Omni- 

 present in the atmosphere are the invisible spores of the fungi, 

 know as the Toridacei. They beget many of the mould and mil- 

 dews seen on decaying vegetation. Some of these act also as fer- 

 ments, decomposing vegeta'ile and animal matter. Of this 

 group, for good and evil, the air almost everywhere contains the 

 spores of Torula cerevisice or yeast fungus, literally the mother of 

 vinegnr, alcohol, and leavened bread." 



The classical researches of Brefeld and Hansen have long ago 

 exploded the notion that the yeast plant is only an immature 

 form of a species of mould. The terms Torulacei and Torula are 

 also out of date, Saccharomycetes and the generic name Sacc/jaro 

 myces being mostly used at present. It is true there is some di- 

 versity of opinion as to the systematic position of the yeasts. 

 Some think they constitute a distinct class; the majority of 

 botanists believe, however, that they are degenerated forms of 

 the Ascomycetes. There is absolutely no reason for the state- 

 ment that the mother of vinegar is another form of the yeast 

 fungus. They are by no means different stages of the same plant, 

 and are only related in that they are both fungi. Hansen has 

 proved that Saccharomyces erevisice and Saccharomyces pastori- 

 anus are beer ferments, and that Saccharomyces ellipsoidens is the 

 wine ferment. Mycoderma aceti occasions acetic fermentation. 

 Chemically these processes are even more distinct. The former 

 converts certain carbohydrates into alcohol and other products 

 with the evolution of carbon dioxide; while by means of the 

 presence of Mycoderma aceti alcohol is oxidized into acetic acid 

 or vinegar. By means of the solid culture media, gelatine and 

 agar agar, introduced for the cultivation of bacteria, while, black, 

 and pink yeasts have been carefully studied, principally by Han- 

 sen. Besiiles budding or gemmation there is another mode of 

 reproduction in the yeasts. The protoplasm of the cell forms 

 spores and the cell-wall becomes an ascus. They are therefore 

 called ascospores, and the yeasts are considered degraded asco- 

 mycetes. John Giffoed. 



Swarthmore College, Pa., Oct. 8. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Man and the Glacial Period. By G. Frederick Wright. New 

 York, D. Appleton & Co. 1892. 8°. 3S5 p. Ill 



As a glacialist, the author of this volume stands among the first 

 in this country, and his long study of that remarkable period in 

 the geologic history of our planet invests all he says about it with 

 uncommon authority. In his work, proceeding in a true scien- 

 tific manner from the known to the unknown, he first describes 

 the main existing glaciers in various parts of the world, and de- 

 votes a chapter to the physics of glacial motion. Summing up 

 the signs of past glaciation, he examines separately the ancient 

 glaciers of the Western and of the Eastern Hemispheres, describes 

 at considerable length the drainage systems both in America and 

 Europe, and directs especial inquiry into the cause of the glacial 

 period and its probable date. 



All this is well done, and supplies the most compact and satis- 

 factory exposition of our knowledge of the subject which has yet 

 appeared, — the facls carefully stated and the opinions maturely 

 formed. To a very important chapter, and the one which for 



many readers will be the most interesting in the book, such unre- 

 served praise cannot be extended. This is the chapter on the 

 "Relics of Man in the Glacial Period." The author believes 

 there are such relics both in Europe and America, and that they 

 have been discovered and proved. No one will deny that there 

 may be such; it is likely enough; but that any such relics have 

 been found under conditions which remove all doubts as to their 

 authenticity and age is open to considerable question. 



Confining our attention to examples in the United States, let us 

 see what is offered. His first instance is the rough implements 

 found by Dr. Abbott in the Trenton gravels. But these gravels 

 are unquestionably post-glacial, and no one can say how much post. 

 The late eminent glacialist. Dr. Carvill Lewis, considered them 

 rather modern, and also maintained that what Dr. Abbott believed 

 to be undisturbed layers, were those of an ancient talus. These 

 statements Dr. Lewis made at an open meeting of the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, not long before his regretted 

 death, concerning specimens from Dr. Abbott which I then laid 

 before the Academy. It is the opinion of most glacialists that 

 the Trenton-gravel finds require further study before we can as- 

 sign their probable age. I have myself found these chipped 

 stones in the Trenton talus, but never in clearly undisturbed 

 strata. 



Dr. Wright's next examples are the finds of rough implements, 

 in the glacial gravels in Ohio, by Dr. Metz, Dr. Cresson, and Mr. 

 Mills. The two first-named are eminent archaeologists, but 

 neither is a geologist, and it may as well be accepted once for all 

 that no opinion as to the age of a gravel can be received from 

 any but an expert geologist, one who has specially studied this 

 most difficult subject. Not one of these finds, therefore, is con- 

 clusive. 



The next example offered is the discovery of flint chips and 

 implements in the alleged glacial gravels by Miss Babbitt, near 

 Little Falls, Minnesota. This locality has been re-examined this 

 year by members of the Bureau of Ethnology, with the result of 

 proving that the implement-bearing layer is unquestionably mod- 

 ern, and not glacial, nor post-glacial. 



Next, the alleged implements from the Columbia gravels at 

 Claymont, Del., are adduced. These gravels are far older than 

 the last glacial action, and it would indeed be wonderful were 

 they deposits of human industries. I can say that the discovery 

 of such in them is wholly rejected by McGee and Holmes, who 

 have closely compared all the evidence; and I add that the sup- 

 posed implements from them which I have examined show no sure 

 signs of human workmanship; while the argillite pieces certainly 

 come from a talus. 



The remains under Table Mountain, California, which are next 

 brought forward, have been unanimously denied by archaeologists 

 any gi-eat antiquity. They belong to a modern industry, and in 

 all probability were left in their shafts by the aboriginal gold- 

 diggers a few centuries before the conquest. The manner of their 

 deposition alone proves this, and the case is given up by Professor 

 Haynes. in his excellent Appendix to Dr. Wright's book. 



Dr. Wright's last example is the feeblest of all — the Nampa 

 image, a "beautifully formed clay image of a female," said to 

 have been brought up from a depth of 330 feet (!) in the boring of 

 an artesian well, at Nampa, Idaho. It is sad to destroy illusions; 

 but when this same image with its story was laid before a well- 

 known government geologist, and he at once recognized it as a clay 

 toy manufactured by the neighboring Pocatello Indians, the per- 

 son displaying it replied with engaging frankness, " Well, now, 

 don't give me away ! " 



These ai'e Dr. Wright's evidences of glacial man in America. 

 It will be seen that his structure is rather slight. Very much more 

 solid evidence than any yet brought forward will be necessary to 

 establish this most important fact. D. G. Brinton. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



"THOUGHTSof Busy Girls" is the title given to a volume of short 

 essays from the pens of working girls, which Miss Grace M. 

 Dodge, the well-known philanthropist, has edited and prefaced. 

 These essays are quite remarkable, considering the disadvantages 



