610 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Nomenclature of Algae.* — The botanists of the British Museum 

 publish a motion which they have sent in for consideration at the 

 Brussels Congress of 1910, wherein they suggest that the starting point 

 for the nomenclature of algae should begin with the Systema Algarum 

 of C. A. Agardh. Their reasons are stated. 



Amoeboid Movements in Algal Spores.f — A. Pascher describes re- 

 markable amoeboid stages in one of the higher green algae, that is to 

 say, an alga belonging to the Tetrakontae Ulotrichales, and closely related 

 to Aphonochsete, He states that amoeboid stages occur not only in 

 the gametes of heteromorphous sexual cells and tetraspores and zygotes, 

 but also in the original primary products of reproduction — the macro- 

 spores or vegetative swarm-spores. He watched the whole process. The 

 green amoeboid spore was produced, and extruded with its four cilia, its 

 vacuole and eye-spot, and after a very brief and clumsy swarming it lost 

 its cilia and began to creep with amoeboid movements for \ to f hour, 

 and then settled and germinated in the ordinary way. 



Movements of Low Organisms at Low Temperatures.} — E. C. 

 Teodoresco publishes an account of his researches on the locomotive 

 movements of the lower organisms at low temperatures. He gives a 

 resume of the results of other authors, and describes his own methods 

 of research and the chilled box in which he inclosed his Microscope. 

 He had the following organisms among t others under observation: — 

 Hsematococcus pluvialis, Chlamydomonas Pertyi, Chloromonas reticulata, 

 Gonium pectorals, Polytoma uvella, Peridinium tabulatum, Crypto- 

 monas erosa, Eutreptia viridis, Euglena viridis, E. pisciformis, Dunaliella 

 salina, D. viridis, Gymbella cisiula, Fuligo septica, and some Infusoria, 

 etc. He gives the results of his observations in each case. He finds 

 that the lower temperature limit at which locomotion is possible in these 

 unicellular organisms is much below what had been supposed. The 

 greatest resistance to cold was shown by the zoospores of Dunaliella, 

 their movements only ceasing between - 17° and - 22 "5° C. In others, 

 the lower limit varies between -5° and -12 "7° 0. ; but it varies 

 in individuals of the same species. Most organisms cease their move- 

 ments at about zero. 



Collections of Algae in the New York Botanical Garden. § 

 M. A. Howe gives an account of the collections of algae preserved in 

 the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden. The collections 

 include a number of specimens of historical interest sent to Professor 

 John Torrey by J. W. Bailey, C. A. Agardh, and others ; also 

 T. F. Allen's Characeae ; 1400 specimens of marine algae collected by 

 G. W. Perry ; 2500 specimens from H. Averill ; 3000 specimens in the 

 Pike collection, which is specially rich in Mauritius material ; the 

 C. L. Anderson collections, numbering some 4000 specimens ; and the 

 algae collected in late years by M. A. Howe himself in the West Indian 

 region, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. A short account is also given 

 of the exhibition cases being gradually prepared for the public gallery 

 of the Gardens. 



* Journ. of Bot., xlvii. (1909) p. 309. 



t Ber. Deutsch. Bot. GeselL, xxvii. (1909) pp. 143-9 (pi.). 



X Ann. Sci. Nat., ser. ix., 9 (1909) pp. 231-74. 



§ Journ. New York Bot. Garden, ix. (1908) pp. 123-30 (figs.). 



