3G6 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



have thrown light upon the method of transfer of the albu- 

 minoids of the seed into the different parts of the new plant 

 during the process of germination. Asparagin, first discov- 

 ered in asparagus, seems in general to perform this task, in 

 giving up, in the first place, in the respiration of the plant, a 

 certain amount of carbonic acid and water, and is afterward 

 united in the new plant to corresponding amounts of carbon 

 and hydrogen, to form albuminoid materials again. 



EFFECT OF CHLOROFORM ON VEGETABLE INFUSIONS. 



Barnes has made a communication to the Pharmaceutical 

 Society of Great Britain upon the preservative effect of chlo- 

 roform on vegetable infusions, in which he shows that of all 

 substances applicable to the purpose of preparing unchanged 

 infusions for medical purposes chloroform is among the most 

 valuable. In one case four grammes of chloroform were add- 

 ed to four fluid ounces of mucilage of tragacanth, and at the 

 expiration of a month the mass was found to be perfectly 

 neutral, while another portion, not treated with the chloro- 

 form, had become strongly acid and unfit for use. 



It is equally serviceable in preventing the souring of paste 

 and gum-arabic, its sjjecial property seeming to depend upon 

 the power possessed by chloroform to prevent alcoholic fer- 

 mentation. When mixed with yeast, even in a warm place, 

 fermentation and the accompanying development of alcohol 

 is prevented. 



Barnes also found that by adding twenty minims of chlo- 

 roform to eight fluid ounces of fresh milk, the milk remained 

 fresh after the lapse of five days, though kept in a warm 

 place. If the milk thus treated be boiled just before using, 

 all the chloroform will be driven off. The same application 

 has also been used in the preservation of concentrated in- 

 fusions of quassia, Colombo, gentian, etc. 14^4, March 5, 

 1875,441. 



EFFECT OF SOLUTIONS ON A GROWING VINE, 



Baudrimont has been continuing his experiments on the 

 influence upon the branches of a growing vine of immersion 

 in water containing various substances in solution, and has 

 obtained some rather remarkable results, by various poison- 

 ous agencies, some appearing actually to increase the vigor 



