ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY. ETC. 327 



Sphseronema fimbriatum.— S. G. Lehman {Mycologia, 1918, 10^ 

 155-63, 1 pi.) gives the development of this fungus as observed in 

 cultures. It produces two kinds of conidia, and their formation is 

 contrasted with the development of similar bodies in Tluelavia. Th& 

 peculiar conidia which originate within the hyphffi and emerge from the 

 open end are at first endoconidia, but those produced subsequently are 

 not endoconidia. A. L. S. 



Uredineae. — G. Filippo Geavatt and G. B. Posey {Journ. Agric, 

 Besearch, 1918, 12, 459-62), in discussing the wide-spread distribution 

 of the white pine blister-rust, Cronartium rihicoJa, indicate the part 

 played by the larvae of the gypsy-moth in spreading the disease. They 

 feed on the Peridermmm stage, and their bodies become covered with 

 the necidiospores. It has been shown that a high wind may carry these 

 moths twenty miles ; they subsequently feed on the foliage of wild and 

 cultivated species of Rihes, and in some cases the only infected leaves of 

 Rihes are those showing insect injury. 



J. C. Arthur {31ycologia, 1918, 10, 111-54) publishes an account 

 of the Uredinales of Costa Rica, mostly from the collection of E. W. D. 

 Holway. A description of the territory is given. The list comprises 

 1 88 species ; twenty-two of these are new to science. Species and host 

 indexes are provided. 



G. Fragoso {Bol. Hist. Nat., 1918, 18, 94-6) publishes a list of 

 twenty-five species collected in Cataluna. Several are new to the Spanish 

 flora, others are new to Cataluna. The habitat and date of collection are 

 recorded. 



E. C. Stakman and G. R. Hoerner {Phytopathology, 1918, 8, 141-9) 

 have published a paper dealing with the occurrence of Fuccinia graminis 

 tritici-compacti in the southern United States, in south-east Texas, 

 Lousiana, and Alabama. It was first detected on club-wheat and grasses 

 in the Pacific north-west districts. It has now been found in the 

 south on wheat. As a number of club-wheats and some soft wheats of 

 the Vidgare group are congenial hosts, their susceptibility, it is surmised^ 

 may be due to softness. The geographical limits of this biologic form 

 are still imperfectly known. 



J. S. BoYCE (Phytopathology, 1918, 8, 161-2) describes a new form 

 of hypertrophy on Incense Cedar caused by Gymnosporangium blasda- 

 Uanum. It is in the form of a spindle-shaped swelUng on the branches 

 and trunks. The mycelium within these swellings forms small brown 

 flecks ; it is purely vegetative, and is presumably very long-lived. 



The full life-cycle of tropical Uredines has been worked out by 

 H. E. Thomas {Phytopathology, 1918, 8, 163-4). ^cidial spores of 

 ^cidium tululosum on Solanum torvum successfully infected Faspalum 

 paniculatum, producing the teleutospores of Fuccinia substriata, while 

 yEcidium passifloricola produced Fuccinia Sclerise on Scleria pterota. 



A. L. S. 



Smuts of Cereals. — Leaflet No. 31 {Journ. Board Agric, 1918, 

 24, 1417-19) issued by the Food Production Office, deals with " Smut& 

 in Oats and Barley." In it are described the different kinds of smut, 

 the dissemination of the spores, and the most effective means for prevent- 



