<')2 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Lactic Acid Fermentation.* — S. Epstein points out the importance 

 <>f a knowledge of the bacteriology of the process of cbeese-ripening, 

 the exact nature of which depends largely on the lactic acid organisms 

 present ; these affect both the odour and the intensity of the ripening 

 by the production of enzymes. 



Preparation of Sake.f — Y. Kozai gives a detailed account of the 

 chemical and biological questions in the preparation of sake or rice- 

 wine. The enzyme of the fermenting fungus, Aspergillus Oryzx, forms 

 dextrose from starch, dextrin, melitriose, sucrose, and maltose, but does 

 not attack lactose or inulin. 



y. General. 



Scott's Fossil Botany 4 — This excellent handbook is limited to the 

 Pteridophytes and the Gymnosperms, excluding Fossil Algae on the one 

 hand and Angiosperms on the other hand. The organisms discussed 

 are grouped as follows: — Equisetales (including Catamites), Spheno- 

 phyllales, Lycopodiales (including Lepidostrobus, Si gill aria, and Stig- 

 maria), Ferns, Cycadofilices (including ftledulloseas), Cordaiteae, and 

 the Mesozoic Gymnosperms (including Giugkoaceaa). In his conclud- 

 ing chapter on General Results, the author points out the general 

 concurrence of the conclusions drawn from morphological and from 

 palseontological investigations. The origin of the Pteridophyta — the 

 remains of vascular Cryptogams going back to the Silurian — lies too 

 far back for the existing fossil evidence to touch the question. Angio- 

 sperms, on the other hand, appear with great suddenness in the Mesozoic 

 period. Palaeontology affords no support whatever to the theory of a 

 bryophytic origin of the Pteridophyta. It is probable that a large part, 

 if not the whole, of the Gymnospermous Phanerogams are derived from 

 Ferns, but if so, the heterosporous stage of the Filices has been entirely 

 lost. The author regards the great majority, or possibly even all the 

 known families of Gymnosperms as having had a common origin from 

 the Filicales. 



B. CRYPTOGAMIA. 



Cryptogamia Vascularia. 



Structure of Isoetes.§— Dr. D. H. Scott and T. G. Hill have studied 

 the structure of Isoctes Hystrix, a terrestrial species of the genus, and 

 find that it does not differ very essentially from I. lacustris. Among 

 the more important results are the following. 



There is some evidence that the apex may grow by means of a single 

 apical cell. The stele is not composed of the united leaf-traces, but is 

 probably a cauline structure. The differentiation of the primary xylem 

 is nearly simultaneous over its whole area. The cell-division of the 

 primary meristem passes over without any interruption into that of the 

 cambium. Secondary xylem is always formed ; its elements are typical 



* Arch. f. Hvgiene, xxxvii. (1900) pp. 329-59. See Bot. Centralbl., Ixxxiv. 

 (1900) p. 201. 



t Centralbl. Bakt., 2" Abt., vi. (1900) pp. 385-405. Cf. this Journal, 1898, 

 p. 113. 



\ ' Studies in Fossil Botany.' By Dukinfield H. Scott. London, 1900, xiii. and 

 533 pp., 1 pi. and 150 figs. 



§ Ann. of Bot., xiv. (1900) pp. 413-34 (2 pis. and 2 figs.). 



