November 27, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



789 



relation do these ontogenic changes bear to 

 the stirp. It is demonstrated that charac- 

 ters of this class finally become hereditary, 

 because we ultimately find them in the 

 organism at a stage preceding either expo- 

 sure to external conditions, use or exercise. 

 It would appear extremely difficult to de- 

 termine whether this inheritance is due to 

 Lamarck's principle or to the gradual 

 selection of congenital predispositions. In 

 the latter case we have a valid explanation 

 of orthogenic, determinate or definite vari- 

 ation, so far as a very large class of charac- 

 ters are concerned, for it is obvious that on- 

 togenic evolution works on all individuals 

 practically alike. It gives a definite trend 

 to evolution and it does away with the 

 selection of fortuitous variations. This, 

 however, is not a complete explanation of 

 definite variation, because we find the same 

 definite principle operating in the evolution 

 of the teeth, which are not, so far as we 

 know, subject to ontogenic variation. The 

 only explanation which we can offer of defi- 

 nite variation in the teeth is that all ani- 

 mals which arise from a similar stem form 

 seem to have their new characters consti- 

 tutionallj^ predetermined. Thus each new 

 character will arise at a certain point, and 

 in nearly the same order in all animals 

 which are derived from a similar stem. 

 Thus we va2iy say that adaptive evolution 

 is not confined to organs in which indi- 

 vidual reaction or ontogenic evolution is 

 operative."* Henry F. Osborjst. 



Columbia University. 



*Pro£. Morgan has proposed the term 'Modifica- 

 tion ' for the change here defined as ' Ontogenetic 

 Variation.' The term 'Phylogenic Variation' was 

 first used by Nageli ; it is equivalent to the term 

 ' Mutation ' as employed by Wagner and Scott. Prof. 

 Baldwin, in April, 1895, proposed the term ' Organic 

 Selection ' for the processes of ontogenic evolution 

 substantially similar to those here described. As 

 pointed out by Prof. Morgan in last week's Science, 

 this principle was also clearly stated in Weismann's 

 Eomanes' Lecture. These matters will be discussed 

 in a later number of Science. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 THE PARIS SCHOOL OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 



The program of this school for 1896-7 

 has been issued. About two hours a day 

 are devoted to lectures. They embrace the 

 following topics : 



1. Prehistoric Anthropology : Prof. A. de 

 Mortillet on prehistoric times. 



2. Pathological Anthropology : Prof. 

 Capitan on disorders of nutrition in their 

 influence on races, etc. 



3. Ethnography and Linguistics: Prof. 

 Lefevre on the Middle Ages and times. 



4. Ethnology : Prof. Herve on the acces- 

 sary ethnic elements of France. 



5. Biological Anthropology : Prof. La- 

 borde on the senses of sight and hearing in 

 race studies. 



6. Zoological Anthropology : Prof. Ma- 

 houdeau on heredity and transformation 

 in relation to man. 



7. Geographical Anthropology : Prof. 

 Schrader on the relations of earth to man 

 in Asia. 



8. Physiological Anthropology : Prof. 

 Manouvrier on the elements of char- 

 acter. 



9 . Sociology : Prof. Letourneau on cer- 

 tain features in the history of civili- 

 zation. 



10. Comparative Ethnography : Prof. A. 

 de Mortillet on the worship of the dead 

 and burial ceremonies among primitive 

 peoples. 



This program will give a good idea of 

 the scope of instruction in this, the oldest 

 school of anthropolog5\ It is now in the 

 twenty-first year of its existence. 



AN ARCH^OLOGICAL MAP OF OHIO. 



The Ohio State Archaeological and His- 

 torical Society for the past three years has 

 been hard at work upon a large map of the 

 State, which is to show all the prehistoric 

 monuments and sites, according to town- 



