496 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



J att a, A. — Lichenes, i., Part iii. 



[The part just issued includes the Lecanorese and Pertusanese.] 

 Flora Italica Cryptogama, Rocca S. Casciano, 1910, pp. 265-460. 



,, ,, Licheni dell' Asmara. 



[Lichens collected at Asmara by N. Beccari and others. A number 



of new species are included in the list of seventy-seven species.]. 



Nuovo Giorn. Bot., Ital., xvii. (1910) pp. 192-206 (1 pi.). 



Keissler, Karl v.— Einige bemerkenswerte Flechtenparasiten aus dem Pinz- 



gau, in Salzburg. (Some noteworthy lichen parasites from Pinzgau, in Salzburg.) 



[Descriptions of several microfungi.] 



Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr., lx. (1910) pp. 55-61. 



Steiner, J.— Lichenes Persici coll. a cl. Consule Th. Strauss. (Persian lichens, 

 gg collected by Consul Th. Strauss.) 



[A number of the species are new.] Ann. Mycol, vm. (1910) pp. 212-45. 



Mycetozoa. 

 (By A. Lorrain Smith.) 



Myxomycetes of Brandenburg.*— O. Jaap has collected ninety species 

 of Myxomycetes at Triglitz in Prignitz ; a large number for so small a 

 district, including some very rare species. The author gives with the 

 lists the corresponding numbers of his exsiccati and critical notes on 

 their form or distribution. 



Plasmodiophora Brassicse.-f-— Ernest F. L. Marchand writes that 

 this organism, so well known as a parasite of Cruciferaa, also attacks 

 Cucurbitacere, Umbellifera, and Polygonacea3. Marchand has verified 

 the occurrence of the parasite on plants of these orders, and draws atten- 

 tion to the risks of cultivating plants on infected soil. The only method 

 of defence is to try and destroy the spores in the soil. 



Schizophyta. 

 Schizomycetes. 



Electricity and Micro-organisms.!— G. E. Stone has investigated the 

 effects produced by electricity upon various micro-organisms. The author 

 finds that currents of • 1 to ■ 3 milliampere act as stimuli in the pro- 

 duction of bacteria in water. Similar results were obtained in the case 

 of milk, but the increase was greater owing to the better food-supply for 

 the bacteria. Milk was also subjected to positive and negative charges 

 of static electricity, and in this case it was found that the growth of bac- 

 teria was inhibited, the most pronounced results being obtained with the 

 negative charges. Experiments upon the bacteria in soils show that both 

 static and galvanic electricity favour the growth of soil-bacteria. Yeast 

 gives off a larger amount of C0 2 when treated with either static or 

 galvanic electricity, the results obtained being more pronounced with 

 low temperatures than with high temperatures. 



The effects of electrical stimuli are seen soon after application and 



* Abhandl. bot. Ver. Prov. Brandenburg, li. (1909) pp. 59-68. See also Bot. 

 Centralbl., cxiii. (1910) p. 468. 



t Comptes Rendus, cl. (1910) pp. 1349-50. 

 X Bot. Gaz., xlviii. (1909) pp. 359-79 (2 figs.). 



