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This paper describes the reasoning and results of cross-cultural research on the conditions that may lead to the emergence of unilineal descent and some of the major variations thereof. We suggest that the presence of warfare in conjunction with a unilocal pattern of residence may be the impetus for the formation of unilineal descent groups, and that the kind of warfare which is present together with demographic factors may determine the particular kinds of unilineal descent groups which develop. The major variations of unilineal descent systems we deal with include contiguous versus dispersed descent groups, demonstrated descent groups (lineages) versus putative descent groups (clans, etc.), and dual (moiety) organization versus other kinds of putative descent systems. Finally, we present and discuss evidence suggesting that a system of putative descent groups (a "clan" system) generally develops before a system of demonstrated descent groups (a "lineage" system).

The representation of a tree by a right-threaded binary tree, as described for example by Knuth (1968, pp. 332 ff), is extended to permit representation of ‘hierarchic structures’ (directed graphs without circuits). This representation corresponds to a compact storage scheme useful both for ascent and descent of the hierarchy.

The available anthropological literature on ritual co-parenthood focuses mainly on the Christian world. This paper discusses and analyzes the structure and functions of kivrelik, a form of ritual co-parenthood established through the Islamic ritual of circumcision and practiced in Eastern Turkey. It explains howw kivrelik can function as either an intra-group or an inter-group integrative mechanism, or as a device to extend one's personal social network. It also discusses the complementary and supplemental uses of ritual kinship, descent, and affinity.

A new criterion is introduced for comparing the convergence properties of variable metric algorithms, focusing on stepwise descent properties. This criterion is a bound on the rate of decrease in the function value at each iterative step (single-step convergence rate). Using this criterion as a basis for algorithm development leads to the introduction of variable coefficients to rescale the objective function at each iteration, and, correspondingly, to a new class of variable metric algorithms. Effective scaling can be implemented by restricting the parameters in a two-parameter family of variable metric algorithms. Conditions are derived for these parameters that guarantee monotonic improvement in the single-step convergence rate. These conditions are obtained by analyzing the eigenvalue structure of the associated inverse Hessian approximations.

The purpose of this paper is to adapt some of the ideas used for approximation on finite-dimensional subspaces of L2 to the more general setting of smooth, rotund spaces. A general principle for construction of approximation methods is obtained. As an application we give a unified treatment of some of the Ln-approximation methods found in the literature, both for, 1 < p < 2 and 2 < p < 03. By employing sequences of LPI approximations with p, + 1 or p, + co these methods can be used for L1 or L” approximations. Section 2 contains background material on smoothness, rotundity, and orthogonality along with presentation of some properties of the best approximation operator. One of the L2 ideas which can be generalized is the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization method. An imitation of the Gram-Schmidt process results in the method of “alternation” with B-operators which is given in Section 3. Another property of approximation in L2 is that the best approximation operator is given by a contractive linear projection. In Section 4 we obtain a theorem which gives techniques for obtaining best approximations using sequences of linear operators. These are based on using the derivatives of the norm functional to define B-operators. One of these involves the second derivative of the norm-functional and is a sequence of “weighted” La-projections. We show the connection between this and the derivative of the best approximation operator. We also consider “mixed” methods which combine alternation with sequences of linear operators. In Section 5 we show how the methods apply to LP and comment briefly on some numerical experiments.

FOR many years, interest in social structure has been directed towards unilinear systems, while bilateral structures have been allowed to remain an unstudied residual category for everything that is not unilinear. Some writers (e.g. Fortes 1953:33) have stressed the universality of certain bilateral features, while others (e.g. Radcliffe Brown 1935:302) have considered the absence of a unilinear principle of some kind to be unusual or rare. Even the most cursory glance at the now voluminous literature on societies with bilateral structures reveals the great variation among them and suggests the need, not only for a better understanding of what these variations are, but also of what structural principles are being varied. Murdock (1949:56-58), Pehrson (1954), and Spoehr (1950:3) have stressed the need for studies of bilateral social structure, and in his study of the Konkama Lapps, Pehrson (1957) set forth and defined the concept of "bilateralism." Also aware of the inadequacies in the current bilateral concept, Freeman (1955:7) has offered the term "utrolateral filiation" to describe some features of Iban social structure. Others have run into special problems in describing and classifying societies where the ordinary bilateral-unilinear distinctions are either inappropriate or inadequate. Most notable of these have been Boas (1920) with the Kwakiutl, Firth (1929:98) with the Maori, Gifford (1929:2933) with the Tongans, Mcllwraith (1948 1:117-162) with the Bella Coola, Gluckman (1951:71-76) with the Lozi, and Goodenough (1955:73-75) with the Gilbertese. The plan of this paper is first to survey a number of selected examples of what Goodenough (1955: 72) has called nonunilinear descent groups, and then to compare these with the well-known unilinear types and with variations in the so-called kindred type of structure. In comparing these systems, however, one does not get far before it also becomes clear that a new look at the concept of descent itself, as well as the related concepts of inheritance and succession, might be rewarding. The purpose of this paper is not just to set up a series of types or to study bilaterality as a special type, but to offer at least tentatively three structural features which seem to operate in all systems, and which in their various combinations produce the rich variety of kin groupings we find described. Let us look briefly at the concept of descent. This has been variously defined, depending upon the interests of the investigator and the unit of analysis with which he starts. The most common American usage seems to begin with the existence of a kin group; descent is then defined as the manner in which persons affiliate with this group by birth (see Murdock 1949:15). A similar

"All words necessarily classify according to certain principles", as Kroeber wrote, and there must be general agreement with his conten tion, although it has been largely neglected in practice, that there is "no conceivable reason why terms of relationship should be an excep tion, and no evidence that they are" (Kroeber, 1917, p. 390). This characteristically clear-sighted view of the great American scholar was much later developed by Radcliffe-Brown into what was rather grandiosely called a "theory of type relationships" (1941, p. 16), which means simply that "For all the relatives who are denoted by one term, there is normally some element of attitude or behavior that is

The subject of the Descent from the Cross appeared in Rubens' work from the start in a mature, accomplished form.1 His first picture devoted to this subject forms the central part of the large triptych of Antwerp cathedral, one of the artist's most famous masterpieces (Fig. 1). The triptych was ordered on September 7, 1611, by the Confraternity of the Arquebusiers. Its central part was delivered to the cathedral before the middle of September of the following year. It was only in February and March of 1614 that the wings were also transported from the studio of Rubens to the church.2

Contrary to previous accounts, the Merina have cognatic, endogamous descent categories. As a result of Merina imperialism and French colonialism they are now dispersed all over Madagascar. Those of free descent still prefer to marry endogamously, although embarrassed at the taint of incest attaching to it, and to be buried in the tombs of the original villages around Tananarive which they consider home. The equally numerous population of slave descent has no such ties. They pride themselves on marrying exogamously and establish tombs in the villages where they have settled. The free not only thus maintain attachment to their traditional groupings but derive benefit from them for social and spatial mobility.

In a spirited treatise on the ‘Origin of our Animal World’ Prof. L. Rutimeyer, in the year 1867, described the geological development and distribution of the mammalia, and the relationship of the different faunas of the past with each other and with that now existing. Although, since the appearance of that masterly sketch the palaeontological material has been, at least, doubled through new discoveries in Europe and more especially in North and South America, this unexpected increase has in most instances only served as a confirmation of the views which Rutimeyer advanced on more limited experience. At present, Africa forms the only great gap in our knowledge of the fossil mammalia; all the remaining parts of the world can show materials more or less abundantly, from which the course followed by the mammalia in their geological development can be traced with approximate certainty.

I purpose, with the indulgence of the Society, to discuss an early chapter in the history of Britain; to examine the evidence we possess of the progress of civilisation among our primitive ancestors during the first half century of the Christian era, and thus to investigate the probable condition of this island previous to its becoming a Roman province.

Liberal conditions on the steps of a “descent” method for finding extrema of a function are given; most known results are special cases.

Patrilineal descent is deployed by the Tsimihety of Madagascar as a criterion for the definition of sentiments of social identity and adhesion, counter-balancing the dispersal brought about by migration. Patrilineality provides Tsimihety with a rationale for the determination of general rights of access to certain resources, in contrast to other criteria such as cognatic kinship, through which specific rights may be claimed.

The most reliable source for a reconstruction of Galileo's progress toward a science of motion is the series of undated fragmentary notes on that subject preserved in Codex A of the Galilean manuscripts at Florence. A gathering of such fragments was published by Favaro in the National Edition of Galileo's works, following the Discorsi. The more sophisticated fragments are clearly associated with the composition of that work, and show a definite and consistent understanding of acceleration. Eliminating those, it will be found that the earlier notes fall into recognizable groups. First, there are some that refer to “moment of gravity”, or to the impetus of a body along a line of descent, and are associated with the discussion of inclined planes in De motu. Second, some refer to descent along arcs and chords of circles, associated with Galileo's letter of 29 November 1602 to Guido Ubaldo. These first two groups of notes do not explicitly refer to accelerated motion, and should not be assumed to do so implicity, where such an assumption can be avoided.

1 Cherry, G. W., "A Class of Unified Explicit Methods for Steering Throttleable and Fixed-Thrust Rockets," R-417 Rev. Jan. 1964, MIT Instrumentation Lab., Cambridge, Mass. 2 Bond, V. R., "Linear Acceleration Guidance Scheme for Landing and Launch Trajectories in a Vacuum," TN D-2684, 1965, NASA. 3 Jezewski, D. J., Three-Dimensional Guidance Equations for Quasi-Optimum Space Maneuvers, XV IAF Congress, Vol. I, Gauthier-Villars, Paris PWN-Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw, 1965. 4 Lawden, D. F., Optimal Trajectories for Space Navigation, Butterworths, London, 1963, p. 56. 5 Fletcher, R. and Powell, M. J. D., "A Rapidly Convergent Descent Method for Minimization," The Computer Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, July 1963, pp. 163-168. 6 Breakwell, J. V., "The Optimization of Trajectories," Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 1959. 7 Peirce, B. O., A Short Table of Integrals, 4th ed., Blaisdell, Waltham, Mass., 1956.

Most discussions of the extension of the concept of “descent” to nonunilineal groups have assumed that the latter permitted a far greater latitude in choosing affiliations than unilineal groups did. In the society of Butaritari and Makin, the northernmost of the Gilbert Islands, the membership of a corporate descent group (ramage) consists of all persons who can trace descent, through either men or women, to the founder of the group and persons who can trace descent, through either men or women, to the founder of group and who have inherited rights to a portion of his estate. An individual is thus simultaneously a member of several ramages, but in the traditional society his most important rights and obligations were in the groups on whose house sites he could settle. The ramages thus tended to segment into (1) a localized core that actually controlled the estate and carried on most activities on behalf of the larger group, and (2) a periphery that would eventually disaffiliate. It is suggested that this differentiation of segments by location made social processes orderly in the absence of a unilineal principle.

Recently, a number of prominent anthropologists have cited with approval W. H. R. Rivers' observations on "descent" and "descent groups." Rivers has been credited with considerable insight and foresigh into matters terminological and conceptual. Goody and Leach favor his usage of descent to refer to the genealogical criteria for membership of descent groups, the latter being defined as corporte bodies which are mutually exclusive on genealogical grounds. Fortes agrees but does not cite Rivers. Other scholars favor a broader usage of both terms, and there is considerable disagreement over whether or not we ought to speak of "ambilineal" or "cognatic" descent groups. The Leach-Goody-Fortes position holds that it is unsound to do so. It is argued here that their argument is indefensible because it, too, fails to meet several terminological and conceptual problems posed by Rivers' usage. Rivers did not distinguish between indigenous ideological forms, such as concepts and rules, and the forms of social transa...

Parallels between Kwaio (Solomon Islands) social structure and the system of ancestral cults and shrines are drawn. Kwaio distinguish between, and make important use of, agnatic descent, cognatic descent, and cognatic kinship, and each is reflected in ritual. Comparisons are drawn between Kwaio social structure, ancestors, and shrines, and those of the Tallensi. Remarkable similarities emerge. It is suggested that many facets of “complementary filiation,” and other features of Tallensi social structure, may reflect a secondary principle of cognatic descent.

A method which under certain conditions permits prediction of as yet undiscovered gene arrangements was described a few years ago.(1,2) Its essence is as follows. If an inversion transforms the gene arrangement ABCDEFGH into AEDCBFGH, a second inversion taking place in the altered chromosome may be of the overlapping type, that is one of the breaks of the second inversion may lie within and the second break outside the limits of the first inversion. Thus the arrangement AEDCBFGH becomes AEDGFBCH. If the first and the third of these arrangements are known, one can postulate the existence of AEDCBFGH as a necessary intermediate step. If a family of gene arrangements related as overlapping inversions is known, a phylogenetic scheme indicating the lines of descent within this family may be drawn. Occasionally such phylogenetic schemes involve hypothetical links constructed with the aid of the method just outlined. The purpose of the present note is to record an instance of the discovery of such an hypothetical link, and certain related facts.

ROGER van der Weyden's Descent from the Cross in the Escorial occupies a unique place in the history of art. It is the only composition by an old Flemish master that is truly monumental, not only in actual size (220 × 262 cm.), but in sentiment and composition. The painter, furthermore, has boldly broken with a firmly established iconographic tradition; he has conceived the Descent from the Cross afresh. His composition—“der glucklichste Griff, der je einem niederlandischen Maler im funfzehnten Jahrhundert gelungen ist”1—created a profound impression. No other painting of its school has been copied or adapted so often;2 and the high price at which, in 1556, the Regent of the Netherlands, Mary of Hungary, secured the picture (which had adorned the main altar of the Church of Our Lady at Louvain until that time) for Philip II of Spain attests to its fame even then.3

pERHAPS as many as one-third of the world's societies lack unilinear descent. Yet, nonunilinear descent groups have received very little attention from anthropological theorists; consequently, as Murdock (1949:57) has observed, " . . . ethnographers rarely notice their presence and almost never report their absence." This is in spite of the fact that we have much evidence, unclassified to be sure, that descent groups are present in many nonunilinear societies. For example, we know that Samoa lacks unilinear descent groups. But there clearly are other kinds of descent group in Samoa which, owing to our traditional indifference to such groups, have not been clearly identified in the literature. The present paper, which is based upon data I collected in American Samoa during 1955-56,2 is designed to fill this gap in the literature. In so doing, it seeks to show that the hitherto elusive data on nonunilinear descent groups are as amenable to systematic study as the data on unilinear descent groups. Traditional classifications of kinship systems cannot help us in identifying the descent groups of Samoa since these classifications have dealt primarily with unilinear kinship structure. If we are to identify the Samoan descent groups so that they might be systematically compared with descent groups elsewhere, we must first have a classification which abstracts the major types of nonunilinear descent group, preferably in a way which permits their comparison with unilinear types. We are fortunate that a paper by Davenport, which appears in the present issue, provides us with such a classification. Surveying the ethnographic literature, Davenport finds that nonunilinear descent groups are coordinate in most respects with unilinear descent groups. Accordingly, he suggests or implies the following typology of nonunilinear kinship structure. Corresponding to the unilinear term "sib," the term "sept" is proposed for the nonunilinear descent group whose members acknowledge a bond of common descent but are unable to trace the actual genealogical connections between individuals (see Murdock 1949:47 for the definition of a sib). In the sib, the bond of common descent is said to reside in the paternal or maternal line; but in the sept, the bond of common descent is said to reside in either or both lines. A descent group produced by either unilinear or nonunilinear descent is known as a "lineage" when it includes only persons who can actually trace their common relationship through a specific series of remembered genealogical links in the given line or lines of descent (cf. Murdock 1949:46). Groups intermediate between sibs (or septs) and lineages may be called "sub-sibs" (or "sub-septs"). And lastly, the term "clan" can still be reserved for the localized segment of a sib (or sept), plus

A DISCUSSION of endogamous unilineal descent groups is long overdue because the very existence of such groups has hitherto been either largely overlooked or else explicitly or implicitly denied in general structural studies dealing with the unilineal descent group (in the following: UDG), and because the identification of exogamous marriage patterns with the UDG has led to certain distortions in the latter's generalized portraiture.

IN THE past few decades the study of unilineal descent groups, as structured groupings, has engaged the attention of most British social anthropologists, and in recent years American anthropologists have also been increasingly concerned with one or another aspect of this topic. The wealth and excellence of the information provided by ethnographers working in unilineal descent societies have made possible the construction of an ideal type: the unilineal descent group (cf. Fortes 1953; Fried 1957; Radcliffe-Brown 1950; and Smith 1956). The authors cited have pointed out that automatic membership recruitment through one parent, structural differentiation into segments, corporate functions of the group, etc., are essential attributes of the unilineal descent group. Of course, this, as an ideal type, is a heuristic device-a means of accurate description leading to the development of meaningful hypotheses. It is in this spirit that we propose to construct several types of unilineal descent groups by making finer and more rigorous distinctions in the structure and function of such groups and to demonstrate the utility of these constructions by advancing several hypotheses which can be derived from them. The argument presented here rests upon the assumption that the corporate functions of a unilineal descent group-economic, political, and religious-and the strength of its corporateness are determined by structural factors, namely, by the spatial arrangement (settlement pattern) and size of the group. Roughly, our hypotheses are as follows: given a group whose members regard themselves as related by descent, the smallest segments will tend to emphasize economic activities, the median segments political activities, and the largest segments religious activities.

TRUE double or dual descent, i.e., the utilization in one society of both patrilineal and matrilineal principles of affiliation resulting in two lineage systems cross-cutting each other, has been found in scattered examples from several parts of the world (Murdock 1940). Our knowledge of the variety and operation of some African double descent systems has been greatly enhanced by recent studies by British anthropologists of the "structural-functional"

This paper examines the ideology of descent as it obtains in the membership recruitment of dōzoku groups in one Japanese hamlet. While the genealogies of the dōzoku show a heavy preponderance of agnatic links, the ideology of the people with respect to descent is cognatic. The conclusion is drawn that there can be independent variation between the phenomenal order of a society and the ideational order of its people. With respect to descent in Japan this means that phenomenally the genealogies of dōzoku groups can exhibit a high proportion of either patrilineal or matrilineal links, depending on varying historical and environmental settings, while the ideology for cognatic descent remains constant. This is possible because descent is not the only criterion for dōzoku membership recruitment.

Three computer programs applied to data from phylogenetic trees and protein polymorphism can be used to find the rate of molecular evolution of different species. It can be shown that this is slower for higher primates than for other mammals.

KINSHIP networks involve a paradox. On the one hand marriage links exogamic kin groups. On the other hand, it serves to link them only insofar as the ties of each spouse to his (or her) family of birth are maintained. This continuing connection with the natal groups is often represented by the bond between brother and sister, although it also appears in other forms.' As male and female of the same generation, their mutual involvement in their kin group makes them in some respects a counter-pair to husband and wife. Since in many systems this sibling relationship serves structural ends, the brothersister tie is seldom left simply to spontaneous expressions of devotion which might or might not be forthcoming. Instead it is reinforced with ritual, social, and economic obligations. Some cultures also stress rather than minimize the incestuous overtones of

Opening ParagraphIn this paper I isolate for study a particular set of ancestors, the maternal ancestors in patrilineal societies and paternal ancestors in matrilineal societies. I call these the ‘extra-descent group ancestors’, for they are the ancestors of the parent who is residual with reference to the descent group of Ego. Thus among the Tallensi of northern Ghana, since membership of the descent group is traced patrilineally, the mother is the residual parent, and consequently the maternal ancestors are extradescent group ancestors, while the patrilineal ancestors are descent ancestors. Conversely, among the Plateau Tonga of Zambia, where there is a matrilineal system of descent, the father is the residual parent, and therefore the extra-descent group ancestors are the paternal ancestors, while the descent ancestors are matrilineal. It is with the character and actions of the extra-descent group ancestors that I shall be mainly concerned.

Joseph Maria Hoene Wroński (1776-1853), mathematician and philosopher of Slavonic descent, is author of numerous work written in French, which, as he supposed, could have incited a renewal of human knowledge, and could also point the way to better living of humanity.

In this case the individuals are considered as representatives of the whole series, without any regard to the descent of each. It may therefore well be that, from a biological point of view, two series having the same degree of variability of the component individuals are quite distinct. In one extreme case we may imagine the population as consisting of a number of entirely distinct lines of descent, in which each line represents a particular type. Then by grouping together the individuals of each type, we obtain a series of types different among themselves, which would indicate the heterogeneity of the types that enter into the constitution of the whole population. In the other extreme case we may imagine all the lines of descent composing the population to represent the same ancestral strain. Obviously in this case every single ancestral line would be representative of the whole population, and the averages of all the different lines would be the same.

IN HIS article "Notes on French Usage," Modern Language Journal, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1, January, 1944, Professor Clifford S. Parker publishes a contribution to the question whether, respectively under what circumstances the initial "H" of a proper name is to be qualified as an "aspirate 'h' " or as a "mute 'h' ." He starts from a former article of Prof. William Leonard Schwartz, who,-I am quoting Prof. Parker,-discussing "Things to Put into French Grammars" draws "general attention to the fact that the name Hitler has today lost its aspirate 'h' almost everywhere in France." It is thankworthy that Prof. Parker expands the field of his observations beyond the singular case. His reference to a number of other names is indeed very stimulating. As for the uncertainty of French usage the question arises whether it is an "objective" or a "subjective" uncertainty. Is there any rule, or a principle determining the trend of usage? Let's begin the investigation with the common nouns of foreign origin, eventually verbs and adjectives too. There we find that the vast majority of "Germanic" words carries the "aspirate 'h' ". That is understandable because of the phonetic value of the 'h' in the language of origin. Besides aspirate 'h' is to be found with a few words of Spanish and Arabian descent. Latin and Greek ancestry accounts for "mute 'h' ." In this respect the French language shows a shift similar to Italian, which even went one step farther in that, with a few exceptions, it eliminated the initial 'h' entirely. Some examples as illustration

In the presentation of an unknown message set in noise, the the median word frequency of the incorrect responses is shown to inversely related to the speech‐to‐noise ratio. The hypothesis that this relationship is an epiphenomenon of increasing knowledge of the message set is rejected.

It is also possible, as indicated by Beurling [1], to prove directly that Wiener's theorem is a consequence of Theorem A. A heuristic proof of Theorem A goes as follows. By Fourier transformation, equation (1) becomes jg =0. Thus since f is free of zeros one must have g = 0, and hence g = 0. The only difficulty with this approach is that for arbitrary gEL??, the Fourier transform g is a (tempered) distribution, and the product Jg is not defined in the usual theory (cf. [3], however). In the present note we indicate how one can get around this problem by replacingf with a suitable testing function of rapid descent, that is, a function belonging to Schwartz's

DESCENT THEOREM. Let C be a simple algebra with center E, and let G be a $nite group of automorphism of E with fixed field F. If F can be faithfully lifted to a group G of E-semilinear automorphisms of C (i.e. for CT E G, L? is an automorphism of C such that O(xv) = a(x) Z(v) for x E E and v E C), then C g C’ OF E where C’ is the algebra of fixed elements of G. Moreover, C’ is simple with center F, and if [C : E] < 00, then [C : E] = [C’ : F].

Despite a decade of concerted attention to nonunilineal descent systems, we are still far from understanding how the problems they pose on paper are resolved on the ground. Here I will present new evidence from the Kwaio of Malaita, British Solomon Islands, a people still strikingly conservative, largely pagan, and cut off from direct European influence, in an island Pacific increasingly pervaded by bicycles and transistor radios. The Kwaio descent system has changed relatively little, and it manifests the features central to debate about nonunilineal descent. The Kwaio evidence on these questions may well have implications reaching beyond the bounds of this debate.2 In nonunilineal or ramage systems, assignment to descent groups is not exclusively through patrilineal or matrilineal links. A crucial question for such a system is whether a man can belong to both his father's and mother's descent groups. If the answer is yes, then how can discrete, corporate groups be formed? Father and mother themselves, through such processes, may each belong to two or more groups; and descent groups could then be little more than overlapping cognatic stocks. If, in such a sysstem, a person can belong to only father's or mother's group, but not both, how is affiliation determined in each generation? Characteristically, in Oceanic ramage systems, the answer lies somewhere in between: membership is neither invariably exclusive and singular, nor is it freely extended and multiple. And in dealing with this middle ground, neither our theories nor the data for most such societies have proven adequate. Here I will argue that many of the problems posed on paper by nonunilineal descent and multiple memberships are resolved by the contextual definition of status: that is, a descent-group membership need not involve "the whole man," and it is neither formally nor pragmatically impossible to maintain and express membership in two or more descent groups. Let me summarize the Kwaio evidence for such an

I AM much obliged to you for letting me see Mr. Hogben's most interesting letter, and I thank him for emphasising the fact that the mutants of the experimental breeder do not show such recapitulatory phenomena as do the mutations of the palaeontologist. Since this point was dealt with, however imperfectly, in the address, I surmise that Mr. Hogben has considered only the extract published in NATURE. His statement of “the final step in the argument for evolution” appears to me consequent, but I am not yet prepared to admit that my statement was inconsequent. Neither, I fear, is absolutely conclusive. Consequent or inconsequent, I did my best to view the problem without prejudice or emotion, but I plead guilty to some attempt at humour.