r 



ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 335 



grain. Some seeds, which are without aleurone-grains, are now known 

 to possess a substance having properties similar to those of globoids. 



Chlorophyll-formation.* — W. Lubimenko contributes a note upon 

 chlorophyll-formation in the higher plants, under different intensities 

 of light. The results of his experiments show that there is a maximum 

 intensity for chlorophyll-formation. This intensity is less than the 

 natural intensity, and varies with different species, and also with the 

 same species at different temperatures. These facts are of importance 

 in showing that a green plant can adapt itself to a weakened illumination 

 by increasing its production of chlorophyll. 



Carbon Assimilation of Penicillium.f — H. Hasselbring has con- 

 ducted a series of culture experiments with various substances in order 

 to advance our knowledge of the nutrition of fungi. Naegeli had 

 stated that food-value depended on the specific linkage of certain atomic 

 groups, but this has been disproved, and it is now held that no general 

 relation has been established between the atomic structure of a substance 

 and its food-value. Assimilation depends on the nature of the plant as 

 well as on the chemical reactions of the medium used, and though such 

 medium has nutritive value for one plant it will not serve for all plants. 

 Hasselbring found that alcohol and acetic acid, and the substances from 

 which the acetic acid radicle is easily derived, are assimilated by 

 Peiikillium glaucum. The effect of different media is discussed, and 

 the results given in detail. 



Irritability. 



Influence of Light on Respiration of Fungi.! — A. Lowschin has 

 studied the lower fungi with the object of testing the statements made 

 by certain authors as to the effect of light on their respiration. The 

 author has performed a series of experiments upon Cladosporium, 

 Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Outturn, but in no case did the light pro- 

 duce any regular acceleration of respiration, which was independent of 

 the warmth produced in the culture by actinic rays. 



General. 



Abechavaleta, J. — Flora Uruguaya. 



[The author concludes his account of the Compositae of this flora.] 



Anales del Museo National de Montevideo. VI. Flora Uruguaya, 



iii. pp. 229-502 (figs, in text). 



CRYPTOGAMS. 



Pteridophyta. 



(By A. Gepp, M.A., F.L.S.) 



Development of Stolons in Nephrolepis.§ — A. Sperlich continues his 

 studies on Ne2)hrolepis, by describing the developmental history of the 

 stolons. He has ascertained the exact time when the first stolon is 

 produced, its function, its position, its relation to leaf -rudiment, and to 



* Comptes Rendus, cxlv. (1907) pp. 1347-9. 



t Bot. Gazette, xlv. (1908) pp. 176-93. 



t Bot. Centralbl., xxiii. pt. 1 (1908) pp. 5-1-64 (3 pis.). 



§ Flora, xcviii. (1907) pp. 341-61 (figs.). 



