Abstract
Biometrika.—The last three numbers continue to record results of high biological interest. The excellence of Prof. Karl Pearson's elaborate studies in statistical theory is becoming widely recognised, and his comments and criticisms add much to the value of the work of other contributors. In vol. i. part iv. Mr. F. Galton states a new problem in the variation of a population with respect to a given character, which, generalised in a note appended by Prof. K. Pearson, is seen to be likely to have important results in statistical inquiry.—The same part contains an attempt by Dr. J. Y. Simpson, good as far as it goes, to demonstrate the inequality of results in the binary fission of the Protozoa. Dr. Simpson's conclusions so far recall those of Maupas, but the difficulties in the way of a successful investigation of this problem are extreme, and it cannot be said that he has met every possible objection. The inquiry is obviously of importance for the general theory of variation, and it is to be hoped that in spite of their difficulty the observations will be continued.—The thorough-going study of the Naqada crania carried out by Miss Fawcett with the help of Miss Alice Lee and other biometric students at University College occupies the bulk of the present issue, and the part concludes with a careful research, by C. Hengsen, on the variations of Helix nemoralis.—The subject of gasteropod shells (Nassa obsoleta and N. trivittata) also finds a place in the opening part of vol. ii., in which number will likewise be found Prof. Weldon's strictures on the ambiguity of some of Mendel's categories, e.g. “green” and “yellow” as applied to the cotyledons of peas.—The co-operative paper on inheritance in the Shirley poppy marks another, long step towards the establishment of a working theory of heredity, the results reached being in general accordance with Galton's law.—Among the “Miscellanea” may be noted Mr. Whitehead's paper on variation in Adoxa moschatellina, and the first instalment of what promises to be a most important series of test experiments, by Mr. Darbishire, in the Mendelian theory of heredity. Japanese “waltzing mice,” the colour of the coats of which is white with patches of pale fawn, were crossed with European albinos, the hybrids being crossed inter se and also with the albino parent stock. These experiments, some later results of which are recorded and discussed in vol. ii. part ii., have yielded data which are by no means easy of interpretation, and their further outcome will be awaited with keen interest. One remarkable result is that every hybrid of the first generation was dark-eyed, though the eyes of all the parents were pink. In a certain proportion, however, of the progeny of the first hybrids the pink eyes reappeared, as did some other parental characters. A recent letter in NATURE shows that Mr. Bateson, at all events, is not disposed to admit that the facts sp far obtained are discordant with Mendel's law, but it must be allowed that much of the evidence is primâ facie in favour of ancestral inheritance.
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Scientific Serial . Nature 67, 550 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/067550a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067550a0