ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC 159 



rnents are described, and previous published accounts of them are 

 corrected. Several abnormalities are also discussed. The species 

 principally treated of are : B. Lunar ia, B. simplex, B. matricarieefolium, 

 B. neglectum, B. lanceolatum, B. boreale, B. virginianum. The author 

 considers the " Formenkreis " of B. simplex as the natural phylogenetic 

 starting-point. He considers the much divided fern-like forms to 

 be off -shoots. 



Branched Cells in Prothallium of Onoclea.* — Caroline A. Black 

 gives an account of the branched cells in the prothallium of Onoclea 

 sensibilis. These occur when the prothallium is badly nourished and 

 grown in a feeble light. The following divergences from the normal 

 may occur. 1. The apical cell may bend back at an acute angle 

 with the axis. 2. An irregularly lobed apical cell may be produced. 

 3. A cell in the filament may throw out a branch without forming 

 a cross wall at the base. 4. A 1 (ranched filamentous prothallium may 

 have the proliferations originating in one cell. 5. There may be an 

 increase in the number of growing regions. These cases are all 

 figured . 



Water-glands in Equisetum.f — S. Nishida publishes his investi- 

 gations concerning the excretion of water in liquid form in species of 

 Equisetum : namely, E. arvense, E. limosum, E. hyemale, and E.palustre. 

 The following anatomical points are of importance. The structure 

 of the leaves is characteristic for the different species, and may be 

 relied on for identification. The structure of the leaf-apex can be 

 distinguished in the arvense, hyemale, and limosum types. The outer 

 wall of the leaf-epidermis is covered with a layer rich in silicic acid ; 

 only the leaf -apex has an outer layer rich in pectin material. The 

 colouring matter (brown to black) of the leaf -apex is contained in the 

 cell-membrane, and may be extracted by warming in water. It is rich 

 in tannin. The whole leaf -point functions as a hydathode, an actively 

 working water-gland. 



Distribution of Pilularia4 — M. Y. Orr discusses the occurrence 

 of Pilularia globulifera in Glamorgan. Three localities have been re- 

 corded for the plant. But it is extinct at two of them, mountain 

 tarns, and is now found at only one station in the county— in a peaty 

 moorland pool near Welsh St. Donats, at an altitude of 400 ft. Here it 

 is very abundant. The author describes the physical geography of the 

 pool, the character of the water, and the composition of the flora in and 

 around the pool. He also discusses the distribution of the plant in 

 Britain and on the Continent, bringing out the point that Pilularia 

 is frequently associated with Subularia aquatica, Lobelia Dortmanna, 

 and fsoetes lacuslris. But these three plants are absent from the pool 

 at Welsh St. Donats, though found in two upland pools twenty miles 

 off. 



* Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, xli. (1914) pp. 617-20 (2 pis.). 



t Tokyo Bot. Mag., xxvii. (1913) pp. 170-2. See also Bot. Centralbl., cxxvi. 

 (1914) p. 560. 



% Trans, and Proc. Bot. Soc. Edinburgh, xxvi. (1914) pp. 281-5 (1 pi.). 



