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work against, instead of with, the eco-logical dynamics of the vegetation.Working contrary to the ecosystem isalways expensive and difficult, especi-ally so with chaparral species becausethey are adapted to an environment thatis suLbmarginal or detrimental for mostspecies. Furthermore, chaparral is afire type and the plants sprout or haveseed that can survive in the soil formany years.

Fire records in southern Californiashow that all the mountainous chapar-ral-covered land is burned periodically.The fires may be cauLsed by man or na-ture and even the best protected areasare not immune to destruction. In 1960the 17,000-acre San Dimas Experi-mental Forest, almost pure chaparral,and used for watershed research, wasswept by fire even though the forestwas closed to the public, had a networkof roads, and several fire fighting unitslocated on its perimeter. The firesstarted by lightning and consumed 12,-000 acres of brush the first day and15,000 by the end of the week.To prevent such extensive and hazcar-

dotLis forest fires which occur especiallyin souLthern California, I suggest thatmore effort be expended at workingwith, instead of against, the ecologicalcharacteristics of the vegetation. Thebrush on the San Dimas area is now9 years old. This is an ideal area totest a controlled burning progra.m aspreventioni against a major firc in thetuLItLre. The watersheds have contourtrails at 500-foot elevation intervlals,anld in somc areas after the 1960 firetrenches were established at 40- to 90-tfoot elevationi intervals. I propose thateach year a band of vegetation on theslopes be bLurnecd starting at the topsof the ricdges and mountains. In this wavthe buLrn of the previouLs year wouldaict as a fire break for the present year'sburn. Since the elevation clifference be-tween the top and bottom of the forestis approximately 4000 feet, it WoUldtake 8 years to burn the entire ar-eauLsing 500-foot elevationi strips. At thattime the natUral vegetation X oukld bedlense enough to start the process again.If at any timiie ClUring the process afire is started at the higher elevationsit would be prevented f'rom spreadingdlownward by the bturned zones below.Fir-e starting loxv on the slopes wVouldstop at the previouLsly bUrned area antdAvoulld not generate suIflicient heat tocross ridges and jtump canyons.

AlthouLgh this controllecd buLrninigwould involve the risk of some floodingin heavy rain years, it couLldn't be as<- Circle No. 8 on Readers' Service Card

severe as what happened this past win-ter below whole mountain slopes whichhad been denuLded by fire. Furthermore,the vegetation below and above theburned strip would serve to some extentas a barrier to erosion and flooding.

HENRY HEI LMERSDepartmenent of Botan'y,Duike University,DO'l(al)7, Northl Carolina(i 27706

XYY Chromosome:Medical and Legal Aspects

Kennecly McNNchirter's diiscussion ofthe XYY chromosomiie and criminalacts (Letters, 6 June) and comnments onthat discuLssioni by C. B. Goodhart(Letters, 5 Sept.) point up a basic weak-ness in societv s approach to the controlof antisocial or criminii.al behaivior.

McWhirter rightly cemiphasizes thatrestraiints placed Lupon individuals mustbe minimial, arnd that their purpose muLstbC protectioni. inot rctribution. But thisprinciple really shoLuld apply no matterwhat the natulre or cauISC of the be-havior that society (or the individualhimiiselt) is beinrg protectecd against.

Beha.vior is generally believed to bedetermined by a complex of relativelyunalterable genetic factors, more easilyalterable effects of previous environ-ImlenIt, aind freely chosen values andobjectives. Current jUldicial processespresuppose that malefactors with con-genital clefects. those with temporarymenital aberrations, ancd those that havefreely chosen to do X rong can beclearly anld readily differentiated: thatthe legal rights of the indlividual vis-i-vis those of societ. and the legal proc-esses required to adcjuLdicate those rithts,clifler for these cdifferenit classes of male-factors (andxc ith the age of the male-I'actor): andl finally, that appropriate,dliflerent processes are known andavailable tor rehahilitatini( rimalefactorsof each class.

Hos\ ever, inlformnation culrrenitlyavailalble oflers little assUrarnce that thevarioUs factors affecting hum1.111an be-havior are suLfliciently xx ell uLnderstoodto perm-lit reliable diagrlosis and effec-tive treatment. . . For example. itseemils likely that wxhen reliable diagy-nostic procedures are available, theyxill reveal that most malefactors suLfferfromii combrinations of all three generalItypes of defects, and hernce wx ill requlirethe samne basic kind of treatment in thesame basic kind of facility for effectiverehabilitation. It also seems likely that

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such a f.iacility aniLd its staff would r-e-semble those of present-day medicaland educational institutions rathetmore than those of present-day penalinstitutions.The judicial procedure nmy also tltrn

out to be the samie for miLlet ctor-s ofall classes and ages andlmuch like thatnow used f'or those jltdged to be crim-inally insane. That is, it miay concen-trate on evall_atin(g the threat to societyand determining the minimLM amountand duration of t-estraint necessary toprotect society against that threat. So-ciety and the individual would prob-ably be represented by prosecuLting aniddefending attorneys and experts inorder to ensure the fullest possiblepresentation of relevant facts and prin-ciples; however, since the objectiveswould be protection and rehabilitationtrather than retribution, the introductionof evidence of specific criminal actswotLld be primarily for the purpose ofdetermiiining the threat to society ratherthan the treatment of the malefactor.Appropriate consideration would begiven both to society's right of self-defense and to the "every dog may havehis bite" principle. .. .

P. ROGER GILLETTEOperatiolis A all/ysis Divisio ll,Stanifor-d Resealrch Illstitiute,Arlington, Virginiia 22209

Although the majority of recent let-ters on the XYY complement primarilydiscussed the legal implications con-nected with this chromosomal anomaly,Kessler and Moos (1 AuLg.) referred topathophysiological associations foundwith this karyotype. Our findings fromresearch projects covering cytogeneticstudies on either sociopaths or diseasesrelated to myotonic dystrophy-which,incidentally, is the only disease whichcan be sometimes associiated with anextra Y chromosome-tend to agreewith the views expressed by Kesslerand Moos.The initial concept of the XYY syn-

drome included the well-known featutresof tallness, aggressiveness, and genitalabnormalities. Now, however, a,ttentionis being given to many pathologicalfeatures which are not consistently as-sociated with an XYY karyotype. Insome cases these features are found inother genetic syndromes; in other casesthe clinical signs are symptomaticallyrelated to diseases of an orthopedic orneurological nature. The number of re-ports on single cases is still insufficientto detect a consistent clinical sign ordermatoglyphic pattern which could be

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used to identify members of the gen-eral population by a cytogenetic means.We believe that more meaningful

findings of physical defects will be ob-tained when extensive cytogeneticstudies are performed on a large samp-ling ol patients who possess those path-ological featuLres which are alreadyrecognized in XYY individuals.

WOLFGANG LEHRNBECHERGEORGE J. LuCAS

Cytogenietics Un1it, Departmnenit ofHealtli, Edutcationi, caid Welfare,St. Elizatbetlis Hospital,Wcishinoton, D.C. 20032

Are, Not Acre

According to my Senator, someprogress is being made in the UnitedStates Senate toward the passage oflegislation which will replace the Brit-ish systenm of weights and measureswith the metric system. Although we areeducating our legislators to the needior this legislation, three recent ex-periences I have had show that weneed to get our scientific house inorder: (i) Of 200 students in a generalbotany course, most of whom hadtaken a course in chemistry or physics,none of the Americans knew what adegree Celsius was, although all hadheard of the degree centigrade. Thesestudents represented most of the 50states. (ii) When I referred to "densityof plants per are" in a manuscript sub-nitted for publication, my spelling was"corrected" to read acre at every re-view, the last time in galley proof, evenafter I had defined the are, in paren-theses, as (100 mn'). (iii) In an articleby a noted ecologist dedicated to thescientists attending the XIth Interna-tional Botanical Congress. I found refer-ence to a plateau of 26 million squatcrehectares (reminiscent of the frequentreferences one sees of wind velocities inknots per hour).

Perhaps these annoyances are merelythe result of confusion in trying to dealwith two systems at one time and willdisappear when we have adopted thenmetric system for daily use. A Swedishfriend recalled the conversion to themetric system in his country as a timewhen nousewives frequently requesteda kilometer of butter or a gram ofmilk.

LORENTZ PEARSONDepairtomenit of Biologic(al Scienices,Ricks College,Rexburg, Idalho 83440

21 NOVEMBER 1969

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949

ADVERTISEMENT

AN OPEN LETTER TO SCIENTISTS

SCIENTISTS' COMMITTEEon

CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFAREEXECUTIVE COMMITTEE*

J. B. NEILANDS, CHAIRMANUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

E. W. PFEIFFER, EX. SECRETARYUNIVERSITY OF MONTANA

PHILIP SIEKEVITZ, TREASURERROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

DAVID BALTIMOREMASS. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

JOHN T. EDSALLHARVARD UNIVERSITY

A. W. GALSTONYALE UNIVERSITY

E. JAMES LIEBERMAN, M.D.NTL. INST. OF MENTAL HEALTH

MICHAEL McCLINTOCKUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

RICHARD NOVICKPUBLIC HEALTH LAB., NEW YORK

GORDON ORIANSUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

ROBERT RUTMANUNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SUSAN ZOLLANEW YORK UNIV. MED. CENTER

*INSTITUTIONS LISTED FORPURPOSE OF IDENTIFICATION

Dear Colleagues:

As a result of recent accidents and disclosures the American public hasbecome aware of our substantial program of research and development inchemical and biological weapons. In Vietnam a form of chemical warfarethe use of herbicides and antipersonnel gases-has been in progress for manyyears. These developments are of far-reaching importance and have graveimplications for the future of U.S. military and foreign policy. They requirethe closest scrutiny; those who are aware of the dangers involved shouldbring the issues to public attention, and press for suitable action.

The Scientists' Committee on CBW was established at Dallas inDecember 1968. We propose to gather and disseminate information, andto work for certain specific actions.

The information program is based on the following principles: 1) everyeffort will be made to obtain and publish information with traditional scientificobjectivity; 2) all information will be made public; 3) the Committee willpromote, and assist in, a comprehensive study of the ecological andsociological effects of the military uses of chemical agents in Vietnam;4) technical information will be assembled on research and development ofCB weapons in the United States and other countries; 5) the policies ofvarious countries in the area of CBW will be brought to public attention.

We ask for action by our Government to ratify the 1925 GenevaProtocol on CBW, without reservations or restrictive amendments. We intendto campaign for ratification.

We now invite you to: 1) write to Congressman Richard D. McCarthyin support of H. Res. 439, a bill which urges the President to resubmit tothe Senate for ratification the Geneva Protocol of 1925 banning the first-useof chemical and biological weapons; 2) write to Congressman Edward 1. Kochin support of H. J. Res. 691, a bill to establish a joint commission to studythe ecological effects of chemical warfare in Vietnam; and 3) join the Scientists'Committee on CBW and participate in our program. Membership is opento all scientists who sympathize with the Committee's aims.

Our first Annual Meeting will be held in Boston in December. We inviteall scientists who are concerned about the problem of CBW to attend. We willmeet at 9:00 P.M., December 27, 1969, in the State Suite of the SheratonPlaza Hotel. Dr. John T. Edsall will speak on some aspects and implicationsof chemical warfare in Vietnam; Representatives E. 1. Koch (D-N.Y.) and R. D.McCarthy (D-N.Y.) will discuss Congressional actions related to CBW, andDr. E. W. Pfeiffer will present a short color film showing defoliation in Vietnam.

I wish to join the Scientists' Committee on Chemical and Biological Warfare

Name Street(ritv Zij CodeMail to: Dr. Philip Siekevitz, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, New York.(Make checks payable to: Scientists' Committee on CBW. Regular membership is $5.00, studentmembership is $2.00.)Larger contributions will be welcome, and will indeed be essential for the work of the Committee.s ----------------------------- -- -- - --------

950 SCIENCE, VOL. 166

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