454 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 429. 



are the ones in which the numerical results 

 are most clearly traced, but they are also 

 exceedingly rare. Those in which two unit 

 characters are concerned are dihybrids. In 

 these the combination series gives four dif- 

 ferent kinds of offspring. So there are 

 trihybrids, giving eight possible combina- 

 tions, tetrahybrids, and so on to polyhy- 

 brids; and in every succeeding grade the 

 difficulties of statistical and comparative 

 studies increase. Of how many characters 

 is a plant composed? 



V. CONCLUSION. 



Now, in conclusion, what are the great 

 things that we have learned from these 

 newer studies? (1) In the first place, we 

 have been brought to a full stop in respect 

 to our ways of thinking on these evolution 

 subjects. (2) We are compelled to give up 

 forever the taxonomic idea of species as a 

 basis for studying the process of evolution. 

 (3) The experimental method has finally 

 been completely launched and set under 

 way. Laboratory methods, comparative 

 morphology, embryological recapitulation, 

 life history studies, ecological investiga- 

 tions — all these means are likely to be over- 

 shadowed for a time by experiments in ac- 

 tually growing the things under conditions 

 of control. (4) "We must study great num- 

 bers of individuals and employ statistical 

 methods of comparison. (5) The doctrine 

 of discontinuous evolution is now clearly 

 before us. (6) We are beginning to find 

 a pathway through the bewildering maze of 

 hybridization. L. H. Bailey. 



Cornell Univeksitt. 



THE SOCIETY FOR PLANT MORPHOLOGY 

 AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



The sixth regular annual meeting of 

 this society was held, in conjunction with 

 the meetings of the American Society of 

 Naturalists and the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, at Wash- 



ington, December 30 and 31, 1902, under 

 the presidency of Professor Volney M. 

 Spalding. A large part of the members 

 were in attendance, and the meeting was 

 in all ways most successful and pleasant. 

 New members were elected as follows: 

 Messrs. W. A. Cannon, of the New Tork 

 Botanical Garden; Judson F. Clark, of 

 Cornell University; G. P. Clinton, of the 

 Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion; W. C. Coker, of the University of 

 North Carolina; C. C. Curtis, of Columbia 

 University; E. J. Durand, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity; J. E. Kirkwood, of Syracuse Uni- 

 versity ; W. A. Orton, of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, and K. M. 

 Wiegand, of Cornell University. The fol- 

 lowing officers were elected for the ensuing 

 year: 



President — Roland Thaxter, of Harvard Univer- 

 sity. 



Vice-President — Conway MacMillan, of the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota. 



Secretary-Treasurer — ^W. F. Ganong, of Smith 

 College. 



The chief item of business of general 

 interest was the discussion upon the prac- 

 ticability and desirability of the new Cen- 

 tral Bureau 'for the obtaining and dis- 

 tribution of material for investigation and 

 demonstration ' proposed by the Association 

 Internationale des Botanistes. An expres- 

 sion of opinion taken after the discussion 

 showed a unanimous opinion against the 

 plan. Suggestions were formulated to- 

 wards securing further improvements in 

 the Botanisches Centralblatt, and a com- 

 mittee was appointed to draw up and pub- 

 lish in Science and elsewhere a statement 

 to American botanists of the desirability 

 of giving their full support to the Central- 

 blatt, and of declining to support a com- 

 peting journal. 



The social features of the meeting were 

 of unusual attractiveness. The society 

 joined with the other societies in the vari- 



