168 SUMMARY OF CURRENT KKSEARCHES I; KI.ATI N< ; TO 



Oolithic Perforating Algae.* — L. Cayeux records the presence of 

 perforating algae in oolithic iron ore of primary and secondary epochs. 

 .None arc found up to the present in Silurian si rata, but they begin in the 

 Devonian and flourish in the Lower Lias. The Toarcian, Callovian, 

 Oxford, and Valanginian ores are abundantly supplied with them. 

 These organisms show a very marked predilection for the shells of 

 molluscs : they never invade the remains of Kucrinites. The shells 

 of Brachypods and the skeleton of Bryozoa do not constitute a favourable 

 medium for their development. The author is of opinion that these 

 algae were numerous in all calcareous deposits more or less formed 

 by mollusc shells, and that they were preserved in the ore owing to the 

 ferrous oxide which fixed their outlines. 



Sargasso Sea.f — 0. Winge discusses the problems of the Sargasso 

 Sea, of which he claims to define the limits. He considers also that the 

 supply of S'arymstmi is not maintained by the detachment of shore 

 plants, but that the floating plants are pelagic forms of certain littoral 

 species. He records two species in the Sargasso Sea, S. vidgare and 

 S. bacciferum. 



Marine Aigology.i — A. Mazza continues his studies of the mor- 

 phology of marine algae, and treats of types of structure in the following 

 genera -.—Polyopes (4 species); Codiophyllum (3); GarpopeUis (3); 

 ( 'ryptonemia (4). 



Projection of Marine Algae. § -E. Chemin writes of an easy method 

 of exhibiting to a class of pupils the habit and appearance of small algae, 

 by mounting them on a slide and projecting them on a screen by means 

 of an optical lantern. Algae with a thin thallus, such as Porphyra, 

 Rhodymenia, Nitophyllum, etc., give excellent images in all respects. 

 Thicker forms give but a silhouette. Quite fifty European Florideaj 

 yield satisfactory projections. 



Fungi. 



(By A. Lorrain Smith, F.L.S.) 



New Saprolegniaceae.H — W. C. Coker has described two new fungi, 

 Achlya paradoxa and Pytkiopsis Humphreyana, after growing them in 

 pure cultures and watching the stages of development. Discussing the 

 question of the spores escaping from the sporangium, or remaining in 

 it, he says : "In case of bacterial contamination or foulness from any 



* Comptes Rendus, clviii. (1914) pp. 1539-41. See also Bot. Centralbl., exxvi. 

 (1914) p. 409. 



t Bot. Tidsskr., xxxiii. (1913), pp. 269-271. 

 % La Nuova Notarisia, xxvi. (1915) pp. 1-42. 

 § Union des Naturalistes, iv. 2 (1914) pp. 32-34. 

 Mycologia, vi. (1914) pp. 285-301 (2 pis.). 



