836 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 101. 



In the number of the Transactions of the 

 Academy of Science of St. Louis (Vol. VII., 

 No. 10) issued on November 10th, Mr. J. B. S. 

 Norton contributes a study of the Kansas Ustil- 

 aginese with special reference to their germina- 

 tion . Mr. Norton gives a list of 33 species found 

 in Kansas. These belong to the genera Ustilago, 

 Tilletia, Entyloma, Sorosporium, Urocystis and 

 Doassansia. Germination studies were made 

 on about half this number by means of hanging 

 drop cultures in water and nutriant solutions. 

 Notes on the distribution of the species in the 

 State and the effect on the host plant are re- 

 corded. Two new species are described, 

 Ustilago filifera on Bouteloua racemosa and B. 

 oUgostachya, and Ustilago minor on Bouteloua 

 Mrsuta. Five plates illustrate the germina- 

 tion and figure the spores and habit of the 

 new species. 



The question of telegony must be decided by 

 experiment, and not by casual observations. 

 In the meanwhile, however, it may not be amiss 

 to reproduce the following alleged cases com- 

 municated to the British Medical Journal by Mr. 

 E. J. Lowe, F.R.S., and apparently resting on 

 his personal observation. The lasting effects 

 of coition in the male are especially curious. 

 The cases are as follows : 



1. A white sow was sired by a black Berkshire boar 

 and produced a litter of black and white pigs ; this 

 sow was next sired by a red Tarn worth boar, and al- 

 though there was no black in either of the parents 

 the progeny were red, black and white, the patches 

 of black being very conspicuous. 



2. A black sow and boar (Duckering breed) had 

 always bred their progeny black. The boar then 

 sired a white sow for the first time ; two months later 

 it was sire of the original black sow, which then pro- 

 duced a litter of black and white pigs, although there 

 was no white in either of the parents. 



3. An Alderney bull sired a shorthorn cow, the 

 calf being a half-bred Alderney. Afterwards this 

 same cow was sired by a shorthorn bull, but still the 

 calf was partly Alderney. 



4. A smooth fox terrier was sired by a rough Scotch 

 terrier, and had rough pups ; it was then sired by a 

 smooth fox terrier, but the pups were many of them 

 rough-coated, and none were like the parents. 



5. A Manx tailless tom-cat was sire to an ordinary 

 English cat, and a portion of the kittens had either 

 no tails or very short ones. The tailless tom-cat died 



some years ago, but up to the present time a few tail- 

 less kittens are born. 



6. A fair light-haired Englishman married a Bra- 

 zilian lady, but had no children. Twenty years after 

 he married a light-haired English lady, who subse- 

 quently had a dark-haired son that was more a Bra- 

 zilian in appearance than English. 



Among the lectures to be given at the Frank- 

 lin Institute, Philadelphia, during the present 

 season are the following : 



Oct. 30, Dr. Edwin J. Houston, professor of phys- 

 ics, Franklin Institute. ' X-rays. ' 



Nov. 13, Prof. W. O. At water, Wesleyan Univer- 

 sity, Middletown, Conn. ' Metabolism of Matter 

 and Energy in the Animal Body. ' 



Nov. 20, Mr. Henry G. Bryant, Philadelphia. 

 ' Characteristics of the most Northern Eskimos. ' 



Nov. 27, Dr. Joseph W. Eichards, Lehigh Univer- 

 sity, Bethlehem, Pa. ' The Cyanide Process for the 

 Treatment of Gold Ores. ' 



Dec. 4, Prof. Henry Trimble, Philadelphia College 

 of Pharmacy, Philadelphia. ' Kecent Advances in the 

 Study of the Eesins. ' 



Dec. 11, Mr. Francis A. Fitzgerald, with the Car- 

 borundum Co. , Niagara Falls, N. Y. ' Manufacture 

 and Development of Carborundum at Niagara Falls. ' 



Dec. 18, Mr. H. M. Chance, mining engineer and 

 geologist, Philadelphia. * Applications of Electricity 

 in Gold Mining. ' 



Jan. 4, Lieut. Bradley A. Fiske, U. S. N. ' Elec- 

 tricity in Warfare. ' 



Jan. 8, Mr. Henry Harrison Suplee, consulting en- 

 gineer, Philadelphia. ' Locks and Fastenings of Se- 

 curity. ' 



Jan. 15, Mr. John Carbutt, Philadelphia. 'The 

 Practice of the New Photography.' 



Jan. 22, Chas. B. Dudley, Chemist to the Penna. 

 Eailroad Co., Altooua, Pa. ' The Ventilation of Pas- 

 senger Cars on Eailroads. ' 



Jan. 29, Dr. Karl Langenbeck, Supt. of the Mosaic 

 Tile Co., Zanesville, Ohio. ' Chemistry in the Pot- 

 tery Industry, and some recent Improvements in 

 Imperishable Decorations in Clay Tiling.' 



Feb. 5, Dr. Lee K. Frank el. Analytical Chemist, 

 Philadelphia. 'Food Adulteration and the Pure 

 Food Law.' 



Feb. 12, Eev. Horace C. Hovey, D. D., Newbury- 

 port, Mass. ' The Mammoth Cave and other Mag- 

 nificent Caverns. ' 



Feb. 19, Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, Media, Pa. ' The 

 Weights and Measures of Primitive Peoples. ' 



Feb. 26, Mr. Harold M. Duncan, with the Lanston 

 Monotype Machine Co., Washington, D. C. ' Machine 

 Substitutes for the Composition of Types by Hand.' 



