Notes on Recent Literature. 
7i 
The Journal of Genetics . 1 
The Journal of Genetics, which is edited by Mr. Bateson 
and Professor Punnett, is to be devoted to the “ publication of 
records of original research in Heredity, Variation and allied 
subjects.” Those whose special interest lies in the subjects with 
which the Journal is concerned will appreciate the convenience 
offered by a recognized medium for the publication of such records, 
which have hitherto appeared in a variety of publications, some of 
them not very readily accessible to many students. 
The prospectus of the new Journal announces that “adequate 
illustration will be provided, and, where the subject matter 
demands it, free use will be made of coloured plates.” In view of the 
prominent position which has been taken by investigations into the 
inheritance of colour, the coloured plates should prove a most useful 
feature of the Journal. It is often essential that the reader should 
be able to recognize with some precision the different tints with 
which the author is dealing; yet the terminology applied to colours 
is much lacking in precision, and confusion is particularly liable to 
occur in the rendering of English terms into other languages, and 
vice versa. The difficulty has only been partially overcome by the 
use of standard Colour Charts, partly because of the difficulties 
introduced by differences of texture, partly because it is only rarely 
that the colour is the same over the whole area of the pigmented part. 
The first number of the Journal, which was published in 
November last, contains five papers. In the following notes no 
attempt is made to deal completely with the subject matter of these 
contributions, but attention is called to some points of general 
interest. 
Professor Keeble and Miss Pellew have two papers, one dealing 
with the “ White-flowered varieties of Primula sinensis,” the other 
with the “ Mode of Inheritance of Stature and of Time of Flowering 
in Peas.” The first paper records the discovery of a new type of 
white-flowered Primula, in which the colour-factors are lacking 
from the flower, although present in the stem. This red-stemmed 
recessive white must be distinguished from the more familiar red¬ 
stemmed dominant whites, in which the white flowers are due to 
the action of factors which prevent the actual development of 
pigment in the flower, even though the factors necessary for the 
production of coloured flowers are present. 
In the second paper by the same authors evidence is brought 
forward which indicates that stature in certain Peas depends upon 
two factors, one determining the thick stems, the other the long 
internodes ; and, further, that there is a definite relation between 
these vegetative characters and the time of flowering, the great 
majority of thick-stemmed plants being late in flowering. 
Dr. Salaman contributes an extensive memoir on inheritance 
in domestic and other varieties of the Potato. Certain points of 
1 “The Journal of Genetics,” edited by W. Bateson, M.A., F.R.S. 
and R. C. Punnett, M.A. Cambridge University Press. 
Price 30/- per volume ; separate parts 10/- each, net. Vol. I., 
No. 1, November 18th, 1910. 
