| Description | Geikie is sorry that Raymond Pearl's paper [ 'A Biometrical Study of Conjugation in Paramoecium'] is causing such difficulty, but clarifies that paragraph 43 of the Standing Orders is intended to allow publication without a favourable report from at least two people in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 'extremely exceptional circumstances', but that they must eventually obtain a formal ratification of their action by the Sectional Committee.
Geikie does not consider the current situation to qualify as 'exceptional', so urges that another referee be found, suggesting that one favourable verdict concerning the biological aspect, and another concerning the statistical methods would suffice if they cannot find two people able to judge the paper as a whole. He asks that Weldon send the names of referees to whom the paper can be circulated. He notes that they do not habitually ask the communicator to be a referee, but they may be forced to ask Professor Pearson in this case. |