484 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Contribution on the Study of the Apothecium of the Graphideas.* 

 G. Bioret publishes a series of observations preliminary to a more com- 

 plete study of apothecia in the family Graphidaceas. In Graphis he 

 finds that the paraphyses are vertical, parallel, and not branched. In 

 Opegrapha they are also vertical and parallel, but less regularly so, and 

 they are branched. In Arthonia the growth of the paraphyses is ex- 

 tremely irregular in direction, there are numerous branches, and an- 

 astomosis is frequent. The latter character more easily seen near the 

 outside of the hymenium towards the walls of the apothecium. He finds 

 that the paraphyses of Melaspilea are branched, and they anastomose. 

 The direction of growth is vertical and regular, resembling in that 

 character those of Graphis. 



By J. Ramsbottom, M.A., F.L.S. 



Lichens on Flint. f — Bouly de Lesdain describes the lichens found 

 on a flinty road in the sand dunes at Dunkerque. Most of the flints are 

 bare. Others are more or less covered, and some interesting species 

 occur which are noted because of their rarity or because of the modifica- 

 tions which they undergo on this somewhat specialized habitat. Twenty- 

 two species of lichens, three varieties, and one form were gathered. 

 Acarospora silicicola is new. The hypothallus forms in many cases a 

 very thin membrane, which only develops well on smooth surfaces as 

 the hyphas are very fragile, and break and shrivel on rough stones or 

 bark. The author believes that the hypothallus in Xanthorina park- 

 Una and X. polycarpa has not been previously recorded. In both cases 

 it is a very thin membrane, of the same colour or lighter than the thallus, 

 reddening with potash, about 1 mm. broad, and with a whitish border. 



Schizophyta . 

 Schizomycetes. 



Cockroaches and Ants as Carriers of the Vibrios of Asiatic 

 Cholera.! — M. A, Barber remarks that cockroaches which have fed on 

 human cholera fasces may harbour cholera vibrios in their intestines, 

 and these may appear in enormous numbers in the insects' fasces for at 

 least two days after the insects have fed, and may occur in smaller 

 numbers seventy-nine hours after ingestion. By means of both faeces 

 and vomit, cockroaches may act as carriers of cholera to human food. 

 Cholera vibrios in cockroach fasces will survive on human food at least 

 sixteen hours after discharge from the insect, and cholera vibrios in 

 human fasces will survive in conjunction with numerous other bacteria 

 in food at least four days. There is no loss of virulence for guinea-pigs 

 in cholera vibrios after twenty-nine hours in the intestine of the cock- 

 roach. Cholera vibrios may be found in the bodies of ants at least 

 eight hours after they have ingested cholera cultures in human fasces 

 from cholera patients. 



* Rev. Gen. Bot., xxvi. (1914) p. 249 (1 pi.). 

 t Rev. Gen. Bot., xxv.bis (1914) pp. 55-9. 

 X Philippine Journ. Sci., ix. (1914) pp. 1-4. 



