356 



SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 531. 



* * * ordinarily Ihey [reversions] deviate from 

 the species in but a single character * ^' * . 

 Quite diiYerent from this are the mutations of 

 Oenothera. Recognizable as seedlings, as rosettes 

 diflcring in shape, edge and color of the root- 

 leaves, and later with stems difTering in structure 

 and mode of branching, agreeing in the flowers, 

 varying in the fruits, they possess a type entirely 

 their own » * * . 



The mutations can hardly be entirely 

 fortuitous if, for several generations, out of 

 every thousand offspring of pure lamarchiana 

 parents, there appear more than ten plants 

 marked by the particular complex group of 

 characters which designate ohlonga. Were 

 ohlonija demarcated from lamarckiana by but 

 a single character it would be remarkable to 

 find it appearing repeatedly and in such num- 

 bers. When we remember that it is defined 

 by an extensive series of characters differ- 

 entiating it froni lamarchiana and from all 

 the other mutants observed, are we not led to 

 the conclusion that mutation in Oenothera 

 lamarckiana is not wholly fortuitous, but is 

 to a degree predetermined; that there is some 

 tendency to the production of the ohlonga and 

 other types in numbers much greater than 

 would be secured by purely fortuitous and 

 indeterminate mutation ? 



It seems of much interest that the evidence 

 from paleontology in favor of determinate 

 variation (or mutation) should be borne out 

 by such careful observations as those of de 

 Vries in so different a field of research. 



I confess I do not quite understand Pro- 

 fessor De Vries's statement — ' In my experi- 

 ments the mother species mutates in all direc- 

 tions [italics mine], in nearly all organs and 

 characters, as well as for better or worse." 

 T can not see that the published descriptions 

 of his observations do show mutation in all 

 directions. They seem to show rather the 

 continued reappearance of but a few (7) dis- 

 tinct types of mutation. To bo sure, Mac- 

 Dougal finds thirteen instead of seven of 

 these mutants from (Enothera lamarchiana, 

 but this is far from mutation in all directions. 

 De Vries apparently meant merely to urge 

 that the mutations were in several different 

 directions and were such as could hardly be 

 due to direct environmental influences, and 



not to claim that the mutations were purely 

 fortuitous and indetei-minate. 



Maynard M. Metcalf. 

 TuE Woman's College of Baltimore, 

 January 18, 1905. 



CURREyT \0TE8 ON METEOROLOGY. 



THE TEACHING OF METEOROLOGY. 



Professor Cleveland Abbe, of the U. S. 

 Weather Bureau, delivered an address upon 

 ' The Introduction of Meteorology into the 

 Courses of Instruction in Mathematics and 

 Physics,' before the Physics and Mathematics 

 Section of the Central Association of Science 

 and Mathematics Teachers, on November 26 

 last. This address has now been reprinted, 

 and constitutes a strong plea for more instruc- 

 tion along meteorological lines in various 

 courses in mathematics and physics in which 

 meteorological problems could well be dealt 

 with. Professor Abbe regards meteorology 

 * not so much a matter of observation and 

 generalization as matter of deductive reason- 

 ing,' and rightly believes that our meteorolog- 

 ieal >tudies have approacJied — he does not say 

 reached — the limit of what is likely to be dis- 

 covered as the result of inductive processes, 

 lie does not suggest the introduction of a 

 new study into the already overcrowded cur- 

 riculinn of schools and colleges, but he would 

 have problems in mathematics and physics 

 selected from among the many phenomena of 

 the atmosphere which need investigation. 

 Thus, among a few special subjects which are 

 enumerated, we find the simpler applications 

 of trigonometry in the determination of cloud 

 heights and velocities, by means of the simpler 

 methods, such as Lambert's and Feussner's. 

 and by the use of the theodolite, photogram- 

 meter and nephoscope; the theory of the wet 

 bulb thermometer; the hypsometric formula 

 of Laplace; thermometer corrections; the for- 

 mation of a waterspout by Weyher's method; 

 and the study of the wind velocity, pressure. 

 temi)erature and dimensions of the cloud 

 column. Professor Abbe's paper • is suggest- 

 ive, and points the way toward a considerable 

 possible extension of sound meteorological 

 education by utilizing the mathematical and 

 physical machinery already in operation. 



