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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLV 



somatic responses, there is no escape from the conclu- 

 sion that the impress of the alpine climate on the soma 

 has heen communicated to the germ-plasm directly or 

 indirectly in such manner as to be transmissible, and the 

 suggestion lies near that repeated and continued excitation 

 by climatic factors may have been the essential factor in 

 such fixation. 2 



Among the most noteworthy investigations of the fea- 

 tures of interest in connection with habitat changes are 

 those being made by the anthropologist in which somatic 

 calibrations of immigrating races and linguistic studies 

 of peoples of known origin, geographical movement, and 

 established relationship are being used to great advan- 

 tage. No more fascinating chapters of scientific litera- 

 ture are to be found than those which delineate the migra- 

 tory movements, segregation and habital reactions of 

 Polynesian islanders, of North American Indians, or of 

 Asiatic peoples, yet their value as actual contributions to 

 the phase of biology of interest to this society is hardly 

 recognized. The investigator of problem-- in anthropol- 

 ogy lias the advantage of dealing with an animal whose 



iiitVlli-ible to him," so that a much wider range of facts 

 may be brought within the zone of reliability than when 

 we deal with an organism whose actions, at best, are but 



A second series of results of great interest and suggest- 

 iveness are those which have been obtained in various 

 laboratories as to the individual modifications in cyclical 

 activity, functionation and structure of plants and ani- 

 mals in response to unusual stimuli, or under the influ- 

 ence of unusual intensities of the common environic com- 

 ponents. The behavior of organisms in constant illumi- 

 nation, equable and variable temperatures, salinity, alka- 



