ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 44.'» 



■succumbed to the influences of time, and the drawings and descriptions 

 are vague and general. It has thus become necessary to drop out many 

 of the old species. 



Lindau follows the usual line of classification, dividing the group into 

 four families, Mucedineae, Deruatiaceas, Stilbaceae, and Tuberculariacere. 

 Spore characters are the determining factors in the system. The Muce- 

 dineae, which have colourless or brightly-coloured hyphaj and spores, 

 are divided up according to their form and disposition. Lindau treats 

 of almost the whole of two of the sub-divisions of the family in this first 

 part, the Chromosporeas and the Oospores. Both of them are grouped 

 under the Micronemeae. They have an insignificant vegetative develop- 

 ment and very short conidiophores. 



Triphragmium.* — M. Milesi and G. B. Traverso publish the sketch 

 of a monograph of this genus. They use colour as one of the most 

 salient characters, and divide the species into two groups : Xantho- 

 triphragmium, of which the teleutospores are yellow in colour, and the 

 epispore warted or comparatively smooth ; and Phc&otriphragmium, 

 which includes species with spores of a deeper brown colour ornamented 

 with long processes. A detailed account of the different species follows. 



New Species of Uredinese.t — J. C. Constantineau describes two 

 new species which he found on well-known plants. An yEcidium on 

 Ifiula Helenium, and Uromyces (teleutospores) on Viccia Cracca ; of the 

 latter, he notes that it attacks only the leaves of the host-plant ; the sori 

 are to be found on both surfaces. The membrane of the spore is 

 brownish and is ornamented by bands of longitudinal thickening, which 

 often anastomose. There is a small colourless papilla at the top of the 

 spores. 



Vegetative Life of Cereal Rusts. $ — J. Eriksson and G. Tischler 

 have carried out a research on Puccinia glumarum which occurs on 

 wheat. The aim was to examine further the mycoplasma-hypothesis. 

 Material and methods are fully described. No trace of mycelium was 

 found in the cells of the host, but a more dense condition of the proto- 

 plasm was noted in preparations made from spring and autumn material 

 to which the name " mycoplasma " was given. This condition of the cell- 

 contents was compared with that of other preparations of grass leaves 

 known to be free of rust, and in such cases no " mycoplasma " Mas 

 found. Yery early stages of mycelium were noted in Uredo pustules, 

 mere threads of protoplasm without nucleus or cell-membrane in the 

 intercellular spaces of the host-plant. A later stage showed distinct 

 nuclei. Both these appearances are termed by the authors "Proto- 

 mycelium," and they have no doubt that they are successive stages of 

 growth. Haustoria were developed later and septation of the mycelium. 

 The research was made on young corn seedlings. The origin of the 

 mycoplasm has not yet been traced. 



Mycoplasma Hypothesis.§ — H. Klebahn has reviewed his own work 

 on Puccinia glumarum in the light of Eriksson and Tischler's publica- 



* Ann. Mycol., ii. (1904) pp. 143-56 (1 pi.). t Tom. cit., 250-3 (1 fig.). 



% K. Svensk. Vet.-Akad. Handl., xxxvii. (1904) pp. 1-19 (3 pis.). Sec also Bot. 

 Centvalbl., xcv. (1904) pp. 353-5. 



§ Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Geeell., xxii. (1904) pp. 255-61 (2 figs.). 



