174 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Marine Algae of the Danish West Indies. — F. Borgesen {DansJc 

 BoianisJc Arkiv, 1918, 3, No. Id, 241-304). The author continues hi& 

 treatment of the species of the Rhodophycea of the formerly Danish 

 West Indies. The genera treated in the present part are Centroceras, 

 Ceramium, Lmirencia, Chondria, Acanthophora, Polysiphonia, Digenea, 

 Bryothamnion, Herposiphonia, Dipterosiphonia, Lophosiphonia, Bostrydda, 

 and LopJioclaclia. One new species, P. sphserocarpa, is described. The 

 copious critical notes to each species are well illustrated by numerous 

 figures in the text. E. S. G. 



Algae of Commonwealth Bay. — A. H. S. Lucas {Australasian 

 Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14, Scientific Reports, Series C, 1919, 7, 

 part 2, 18 pp. 9 pis.). The fourteen species here recorded were collected 

 by the Mawson Expedition to the Antarctic, and include two new species, 

 Chaetomorpha Maivsoni and Tridaea Mawsoni. Critical notes are 

 appended to each record. Under Plocamium coccineum a comparative 

 table is drawn up of the characters of that species and P. leptophyUum. 

 The author comes to the conclusion that the two species are identical 

 with each other and with the Antarctic form. The only known species 

 in the list not previously recorded for the Antarctic is Ballia callitricha 

 (form B. Hombroniana Mont.), sparingly represented by worn frag- 

 ments. Phyllogigas grandifolius was well represented by a large number 

 of individuals of different stages, from very young to the full-grown 

 plant. They are here fully described and well figured. The floras of 

 Victoria Land and Commonwealth Bay are compared. Eight species are 

 common to both ; and, on the other hand, each region has six species not 

 represented in the other. The floras are both very limited. E. S. G. 



Seaweed as Raw Material for Industry. — Saller {Prometheus^ 

 1916, 27, 726-7 ; see also Bot. CeiitralM., 1917, 135, 180). Banks of 

 algfe are cast up on the shore during great storms, and consist mainly of 

 brown and red algae. The brown algae predominate, and are already 

 recognized in industry. But red algfe have also found their uses, for 

 instance, as a binding material for artists' colours, as a source of agar- 

 agar which is employed as an edible, a medicine, a medium for the culture 

 of bacteria, and a " finish " for textile fabrics. As a source of iodine 

 algffi are badly neglected. The species of Laminaria contain about 80 p.c. 

 water. Of the residue obtained by desiccation, 20 p.c. consists of salts 

 soluble in water, 40 p.c. soluble organic material, 35 p.c. insoluble 

 organic material, and 5 p.c. insoluble inorganic material. Only the 

 20 p.c. salts are made use of in iodine manufacture and in the pre- 

 paration of potassium salts for fertilizers. The 75 p.c. organic material 

 yields 20 p.c. of the " finish "-medium called " norgine," and from the 

 residue yields " tangin," a medical remedy for gout and rheumatism. 

 Recently a definite seaweed industry has been developed in California ; 

 and as all the factories are surrounded with barbed wire, the author 

 itssumes that they have special trade secrets to guard. E. S. G. 



