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The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the fast-twitch (FT) fiber composition in muscle was a) correlated with performance capacities, b) related to the trainability of the subjects, and c) whether the FT fiber composition could be predicted with standard laboratory tests. From twenty-four young women (ages 24.3 ± 3.0 yrs) muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis of both the left and right legs. In addition, each subject completed four laboratory tests: i) a maximal oxygen intake test on the cycle ergometer, ii) a high-kp power test, iii) a low-kp power test, and iv) a Sargent jump. Prior to training the correlations between FT fibers and each of the tests (r ≤ 0.19) were not significant (P ≥ 0.05). After training anaerobically (Δ = 20) significant improvements (P<0.05) occurred in a) the high-kp test (Δ = + 0.12 ± 0.02 kpm/sec.kg) b) the low-kp test (Δ = + 0.10 ± 0.01 kpm/sec.kg) and c) the Sargent jump (Δ = + 2.5 ± 1.1 cm). However, these training-induced changes (Δ) were not correlated with FT fiber composition (r ≤ 0.35), nor were the post-training performances on the tests correlated with the FT fibers (r ≤ 0.12). Performance capacities before and after training were not significantly different in groups with a low FT fiber composition (35.8 ± 1.6) or a high FT fiber composition (63.6 ± 2.2). None of the performance tests either singly, or in combination in a multiple regression equation, provided a suitable prediction of the FT muscle fiber composition. The results of this study indicate that athletic performances and/or susceptibility for training cannot be determined a priorifrom simple measurements of muscle fiber composition.

Abstract: A large amount of unmounted material ofCrataegus (Rosaceae) at Carnegie Museum (CM) was studied and found to include types of species described by C. S. Sargent from western Pennsylvania. These are of interest because Sargent'sCrataegus types were previously thought to be only at the Arnold Arboretum (A). Sargent's method of choosing types (designating a living “type tree” and citing several specimens collected from it) is discussed and clarified.Crataegus types at A were compared with the material at CM. An annotated list of the western Pennsylvania types in both herbaria is presented.

In the central part of Florida the Tropical Life Zone reaches its northern limits in the region southwest of the northern end of Lake Okeechobee. Along the coasts it extends farther north, especially so on the East Coast, where it forms a narrow strip along the Indian River. Miami, the county seat of Dade County, is situated about half way between the northern and the southern limits (Key West). Based on a study of the vertebrate fauna, as also on the evidence offered by E. A. Schwarz (insects), W. H. Dall (mollusks) and C. S. Sargent (trees), C. Hart Merriam (12, 406) reached the conclusion that “there exists in Florida a well-marked sub-tropical fauna and flora consisting in the main (except in the case of terrestrial mammals and reptiles which could not reach it) of genera, and largely of species, identical with those of Cuba.” Referring to the native vegetation of the “Miami Limestone Region,” Dr. J. K. Small (22, III) states that “it is essentially of a tropical character, with strong relationships to the flora of Cuba and the Bahamas.”