EDITORIAL GLEANINGS. 359 
by heterozygous yellow mice, but that there is a selective fertilisation ; 
so that a yellow-bearing ovum and a yellow-bearing sperm are either 
mutually repellent or mutually sterile, though capable of fertile union 
with germ-cells bearing other colours. Or it may be that yellow is 
due to the association of several factors, as appears to be the case in 
certain colours of sweet peas investigated by Bateson, Saunders, and 
Punnett, and reported on by them to the Royal Society. Castle, 
discussing various alternatives, commits himself to none. Further 
experiments are evidently most desirable. 
‘Index Generum et Specierum Animalium,” Report of the Com- 
mittee, consisting of Dr. Henry Woodward (Chairman), Dr. F. A. 
Bather (Secretary), Dr. P. L. Sclater, Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, Dr. 
W. HE. Hoyle, Hon. Walter Rothschild, and Lord Walsingham. 
Steady progress has been made with the indexing of the literature 
for the second portion of this Index (1801-1850). Among numerous 
works dealt with, the compiler, Mr. C. Davies Sherborn, specially 
mentions the following :—Boisduval’s works on Lepidoptera ; publi- 
cations of the Bologna Academy; Bonaparte’s numerous tracts and 
his ‘Conspectus Generum Avium’; publications of the Bonn Natural 
History Society; publications of the Bordeaux Linnean Society ; 
Roret’s edition of the ‘Suites 4 Buffon.’ The number of index-slips 
increases with great rapidity, and continual effort is needed to keep 
this mass of material in order for reference. The slips already 
arranged constitute a mine of information for monographers and 
others. They are preserved in the Geological Department of the 
British Museum (Natural History), where reference is frequently 
made to them by members of the staff and outside workers, while 
information derived from them is often asked for by correspondents 
at a distance. The Committee would, however, be glad to see still 
more advantage taken of the facilities now offered for the consultation 
of this valuable aid to systematic work. 
Prof. George H. Carpenter contributed a paper on ‘“‘Some Arctic 
and Antarctic Collembola.” The last ten years have been marked by 
great advances in the systematic study of the Collembola, or Spring- 
tails. Collections from many parts of the world have been worked 
out, but the most striking results have been obtained from the 
examination of specimens brought from the Arctic and Antarctic 
regions by various expeditions. The comparative richness of the 
Collembolan fauna of remote northern and southern lands is remark- 
able. In the Arctic, Greenland has about twenty species of Spring- 
tails, Spitzbergen sixteen, and Franz-Joseph Land seven; while in 
the Antarctic, Kerguelen has five, Graham Land and the South Shet- 
lands four, South Georgia six, the Falklands ten, and South Victoria 
Land at least two. According to the views of most recent students, 
the Poduride and the Isotomine are nearest to the primitive stock of 
the order, the Hntomobryine, the Tomocerine, and the Symphypleona 
being more highly specialized. It is suggestive to find that in both 
the Arctic and Antarctic faunas the primitive sections are well repre- 
sented, while the specialized genera have but very few species. And 
in the more remote and insular regions the higher groups seem 
entirely absent. Of much interest is the presence of two Arctic 
