plasms in the mucors, we may be able to spur our imagination still further to conceive of this same constitution as existing in one of the two sexes in all organic forms. It might then be theoretically possible by proper technique to obtain reactions with our isogamic plus and minus races of the mucors and thus have males and females in different groups of plants and animals compared on a common and fundamental basis. If this highly imaginative proceedure were possible, is there any reason to believe that the so-called males in all groups of plants and animals would invariably be related to the same sex-plus or minus of the mucors? It might transpire that the socalled females of the moths and birds, to take an extreme example, would be found by their reactions with test mucors to bear the same sign-plus or minus-as the males of flies and mammals.

assurance

Sex has apparently developed independently many times in different groups of plants and animals. The term male and female are applied to the end products seen in visibly dimorphic gametes. There is no that these terms have laid hold of the fundamental differences between the two sexes. Spines, superficially similar, are developed on the porcupine, jimsonweed and sea urchin, yet these have no close genetic relationship to one another. They are examples of parallel development in unrelated structures-in other words they are to be considered analogous rather than homologous organs. Is it not possible that visible differences in dimorphic gametes are also analogous rather than homologous; that the sperm in one form may be homologous to the egg in another form? It is suggestive in this connection that the males of mammals have this in common with the females of birds-that they produce two kinds of gametes. Moreover, it is the sex glands of the male of mammals and of the female of birds which form hormones influencing profoundly the expression of the secondary sex characters, albeit in a somewhat different manner. I do not suggest that in starting with human terminology, as we generally have done in describing lower organisms, we

should call the rooster a female and the hen a male. I wish merely to call attention to inadequately explained sexual phenomena in higher forms in which similarities in the gross morphological differentiation of the socalled male gametes of two forms are not associated with certain physiological peculiarities which are common rather to the opposite

sexes.

It seems reasonable to consider in mucors the physiological sexual differentiation into plus and minus races, more expressive of any fundamental peculiarities of sex, if such actually exist, than the size differences and associated phenomena in higher forms. Sperm cells, in addition to being gametes, are organs of locomotion and the egg cells, in addition to being gametes, are storage cells to supply nourishment to the developing zygote. Motility in the sperm and storage in the egg we can conceive of as secondary rather than primary sex characters. It is not alone the gametes of higher forms in which we find differences associated with the diverse functions of bringing the gametes together and nourishing the zygote formed by their union, but also the two sexual organisms themselves may have their sexual differences related directly or indirectly to these same somewhat conflicting functions.

The diecious mucors seem largely free from such secondary sexual characters which may tend to obscure more fundamental sexual differences. Their gametes are normally equal in size and nourishment for the developing zygote is supplied approximately in equal amounts from both sexes. Moreover, in those few forms in which the conjugative filaments seem to exercise attraction toward each other, such attractions seem to be mutual and equal.

It would carry us too far to attempt to meet the objections of cytologists or of others to our hypothesis of gamete differentiation or to attempt to show in what other ways the sexual differentiation in mucors may be of interest to students of higher forms. We will be satisfied, however, if we have shown that the simple bread mold may eventually be of some service in helping to solve the funda

mental problems of sex, for we believe that many of these problems are to be solved only with the structurally simpler forms of life like the mucors. ALBERT F. BLAKESLEE

CARNEGIE STATION FOR

EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Blakeslee, A. F. '04. Sexual Reproduction in the Mucorineæ. Proc. Am. Acad., 40: 205-319.

2

3.

4.

5.

6.

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8.

'06a. Zygospore Germinations in the Mucorineæ. Annales Mycol., 4: 1-28.

'06b. Zygospores and Sexual Strains in the Bread Mold. SCIENCE, N. S., 24: 118-122.

'07. The Nature and Significance of Sexual Differentiation in Plants. SCIENCE, N. 8., 25: 366–371.

'09. Papers on Mucors. Bot. Gaz., 47: 418-423.

'13. A Possible Means of Identifying the Sex of (+) and (—) Races in the Mucors. SCIENCE, N. S., 37: 880-881.

'15. Sexual Reactions between Hermaphroditic and Diecious Mucors. Biol. Bull., 29: 87-103.

'07. Heterothallism in Bread Mold. Bot. Gaz., 43: 415-418. 9. Baur, E., Jahn, E., Blakeslee, A. F. and Guilliermond, A. '07. Tabulæ Botanica, Mucorineæ, Tafel VI. and VII., Gebr. Borntraeger.

10. Burgeff, H. '14-'15. Untersuchungen ueber Variabilitaet, Sexualitaet u. Erblichkeit bei Phycomyces. I. Teil Flora N. F. 7: 259316; II. Teil Flora N. F. 8: 353-448. 11. Burger, Owen F. '19. Sexuality in Cunninghamella. Bot. Gaz., 68: 134-146.

12. Lendner, A. '10. Observations sur les Zygospores des Mucorinées. Bull. Soc. bot. Genev., 2: 58.

which the chairman, Professor John C. Merriam, of the University of California, writes:

The Division of States Relations is organized with special reference to the consideration of research interests related to organization of the states as political and economic units. In our commonwealth the state presents an important form of organization for the development of certain aspects of science. The function of science in such a unit is to direct the conservative use of the state's natural resources, to increase productivity, to improve sanitation, and in other ways to promote prosperity and the public welfare. The purposes of this division may be stated in simplest form as follows: 1. To obtain information as to the most effective types of organization for groups of departments concerned with research within state governments.

2. To become acquainted with the best methods of cooperation among the institutions within the state-educational, commercial and industrialwhich are concerned with scientific research.

3. To study the wider outside relations of research in state organizations, including the contracts with activities of other states and with national agencies of the country.

However, much information upon the present situation is needed before steps can be suggested for the closer coordination of state scientific agencies. The division is, therefore, undertaking a study of the present relationships of the various scientific agencies in the government of a number of the states. Several systems for the organization of state scientific departments are in operation, some, presumably, with better effect than others. Relations have been variously developed between these state departments and the scientific groups in state educational institutions. The relation between research work in many state departments and the work of enforcing the regulations based upon scientific investigation has attracted attention from the point of view both of science and of political economy. Moreover, determination of the most satisfactory forms for central bodies which may be used to organize scientific effort within states, and of the auspices under which such bodies should act will require much careful study. The nature of the state organization must be adapted to the particular situation found in the state in which it may seem desirable to organize such a body. It is believed that careful review of present conditions and of means for improving them is warranted by the possible gains in the

progress of science and the advance in public welfare which may be expected from the most rational development of these scientific agencies. The division bespeaks the cooperation in this study of all those who are interested in this aspect of the advancement of science.

SUMMER MEEting of the american INSTI TUTE OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS

THE summer meeting of the institute will be held in Canada. The date has been fixed tentatively as June 21-26. Plans as worked out at present include a meeting of two days, Monday and Tuesday, at Montreal, for the business sessions, reading of papers and possibly one or two excursions to chemical industries in Montreal.

The program of papers to be presented is being prepared and the secretary desires information as to papers being prepared for presentation at this meeting. Members are urged to present to the society as many papers as possible in order to make the meeting profitable and the Transactions valuable. Papers on any phase of chemical engineering work would be welcome. A special endeavor is being made to secure papers on electrolytic industries and papers on this subject are especially desired.

Wednesday will be spent at Ottawa visiting the copper and nickel refinery of the BritishAmerican Nickel Corporation, also inspection of the government buildings and the laboratories of the Bureau of Mines.

Thursday and Friday will be spent at Shawinigan Falls seeing the power development and the electrolytic industries located in this vicinity.

Saturday will be spent at La Tuque where we have secured permission from the Brown Company for a visit to the very large sulphate pulp mill where the explosion process described by Hugh K. Moore at our Savannah meeting is in operation. From this point a trip is being planned to the very large artificial lake which has been made at La Loutre. This includes a 50 mile boat trip, stopping at a fishing camp on the lake where there will be opportunity for motor boating and fishing. After a stop of a day or two in this very picturesque

and wild part of Canada, the return trip will be made to Quebec.

J. C. OLSEN, Secretary

THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY THE one hundred and third regular meeting of the American Physical Society will be held in Washington, at the Bureau of Standards, on Friday and Saturday, April 23 and 24. The first session will begin at 10 o'clock on Friday morning. The program contains the titles of forty-six papers.

The other meetings for the calendar year will be as follows: The Thanksgiving meeting, on November 27, will be held at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, instead of in Chicago. The annual meeting, beginning on December 28, will be held in Chicago, this being the occasion of the special Quadrennial Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Affiliated Societies. The October meeting will be omitted for the year 1920.

The Pacific Coast Section will hold a meeting at the University of Washington, in Seattle, at the time of the meeting of the Pacific Division, A. A. A. S., June 17-19, 1920. Correspondence relating to this meeting should be addressed to the Secretary of the Pacific Coast Section, Professor E. P. Lewis, University of California, Berkeley, California.

twenty-third, Professor R. W. Wood, of the Johns Hopkins University, lectures on "Invisible Light in War and Peace."

DR. JAMES R. ANGELL, professor of psychology in the University of Chicago and dean of the university faculties, this year chairman of the National Research Council, has been elected president of the Carnegie Corporation, New York.

PROFESSOR THEODORE W. RICHARDS and Professor George D. Birkhoff, of Harvard University, have been elected members of the Danish Academy of Sciences.

THE Royal Irish Academy has elected as honorary members Professor George Ellery Hale, Professor A. E. H. Love, Sir Ernest Rutherford and M. Henri Louis le Châtelier.

THE founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society has been awarded to Mr. H. St. John B. Philby, for his two journeys in southcentral Arabia, 1917 and 1918; the Patron's medal to Professor Jovan Cvijic, rector of the University of Belgrade, for studies of the geography of the Balkan Peninsula; the Victoria medal to Lieutenant-Colonel H. S. L. Winterbotham, for his development of scientific methods of artillery survey and the production of maps of inaccessible areas.

OFFICERS of the Malacological Society of London for 1920 were elected at the annual meeting on February 13 as follows: President: G. K. Gude; Vice-Presidents: H. O. N. Shaw, T. Iredale, J. R. le B. Tomlin, and A. S. Kennard; Treasurer: R. Bullen Newton; Editors: B. B. Woodward; Secretary: A. E. Salisbury.

WILLIAM T. SEDGWICK, professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, left the United States this week for England, where he will serve as the institute's first exchange professor to the universities of Leeds and Cambridge.

DR. EDWARD P. HYDE, director of the Nela Research Laboratory, Cleveland, sailed for Europe on April 13, in connection with business for the International Commission on Illumination, of which he is the vice-president. He expects to return to this country in July.

DR. J. O. HALVERSON, associate in the department of nutrition of the Ohio Agricultural Exappointed to take charge of similar work in periment Station, the past three years, has been the Agricultural Experiment Station at Raleigh, N. C.

MR. R. A. McGINTY, associate professor of horticulture in the Colorado Agricultural College and Experiment Station, has resigned to enter the employment of a canning company at Canon City, Colorado.

MR. R. H. BULLARD, instructor in chemistry at Hobart College, has accepted a position in the research department of the Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Co., Perth Amboy, N. J.

DR. PIER ANDREA SACCARDO, the distinguished mycologist and professor emeritus of the Royal University of Padua, Italy, died on February 12, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Professor Saccardo was a member of numerous academies and societies both Italian and foreign, and is known to all pathologists and mycologists by his great Sylloge Fungorum.

MR. J. S. MACARTHUR, the English industrial chemist, known for his part in the discovery of the cyanide process for the extraction of gold and other metals, and for the work in chemistry and mining, died on March 16.

THE Dartmouth Scientific Association organized in February, 1870, observed its fiftieth anniversary on the 18th inst. by the presentation of an address on "The Founders" by the only living member of the original seven, Dean-Emeritus Charles F. Emerson. Professor Emerson has been an active member

from its organization, as he has been connected with the college as student and teacher for fifty-five years, and has seen the College expand from 176 students to 1738. So far as reports from colleges and universities in America could be secured, this Scientific Association has maintained the longest continued existence without a lapse of meetings, twice a month, except vacations. The association is now in a most prosperous condition with about 70 members.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY department of chemistry has received a grant of $3,500 from the Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Fund of the United States Government. This fund is for the purpose of supporting research leading to the development of new metallo-organic compounds which may prove of therapeutic value in the treatment of syphilis of the central nervous system. A plan of cooperation has been worked out between the Universities of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern whereby all pharmacological work will be done by the first-named institution and the synthesis of new compounds by Minnesota, Illinois and Northwestern in cooperation.

A SUM of money has been raised by the olive growers and the canning industry for an intensive study of botulism in California. The investigation will be conducted in the laboratories of the Stanford University Medical School and the George William Hooper Foundation for Medical Research of the University of California and has the cooperation of the U. S. Health Service and the California State

Board of Health. The investigation will inalude a careful study of the distribution of the Bacillus botulinus in nature, of the ways in which food materials may become infected and of the steps necessary to destroy the organism when it has infected raw food materials. A staff of specially trained workers has been engaged and it is expected that the work will require at least two years.

CONCURRENTLY with the introduction of a bill into the United States Senate by Senator Johnson providing for the establishment and maintenance by the United States Forest Serv

ice of a Forest Experiment Station in California in cooperation with the University of California, the Division of Forestry at the State University has expressed the opinion that such an experiment station "would be of great importance to every one interested in California forests." It was stated that the Forest Products Laboratory established about ten years ago at the University of Wisconsin has not only developed into a large and important institution doing work known throughout the country, but that country, but that it is now the leading institution of its kind in the world. "There is no reason why the Forest Experiment Station proposed for California to enable scientific investigation of forestry problems should not also become the leader in its field." An initial appropriation of $25,000 is suggested in Senator Johnson's bill, it was stated. The work of the staff of the proposed station would be carried on in cooperation with the faculty of the Division of Forestry of the University of California.

A BRITISH Association of Research for the cocoa, chocolate, sugar, confectionery, and jam trades has been formed in accordance with the government scheme for the encouragement of industrial research. The association will establish and maintain laboratories and conduct experiments, and powers are also taken to encourage the technical education of persons engaged or likely to be engaged in the allied trades. The government will contribute, with certain limits, out of the funds of the Imperial Trust for the encouragement of scientific and industrial research a sum

equal to that subscribed by the members themselves for five years.

AMONG recent appropriations made in Cuba there is one providing $225,000 to remodel the Hospital Las Animas of Havana and to erect a monument to Dr. Carlos Finlay at the entrance of the hospital.

THE Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re search has received a letter from SurgeonGeneral William C. Braisted, U. S. Navy, testifying to his appreciation of the valuable aid rendered by the institute in connection