74 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



;i list of synonymy, references bo literature, and critical remarks. The 

 nexl contribution (No. LO) treats of quaternary and subfossL 1 Diatoma- 

 cea: collected in fresh-water in Ftliiopia l>y Ne«;ri. The more ancient 

 material was found in the liills of Smith), and the more recent came from 

 the terrace of Lake Zuay. Both collections are discussed critically, and 

 a list of 106 species is given. 



The third contribution contains lists of 9 1 and 167 species respect- 

 ively, contained in the Tertiary deposits of Bergonzano, Reggio d'Emilia, 

 and of Marmorito, Alessandria. Many of the species are common to 

 both lists, and indeed two species, Tsthntiit Squinaboli and Oocconeis 

 Lanzii, have never been recorded from any other deposits. Tic pale- 

 ontological affinity between the collections is clearly established. 



Diatoms from Dahomey.* — F. Hustedt records loo species of 

 diatoms in samples of mud from Porto-Novo (French Dahomey), 

 divided among 28 genera. The Navicular are the most numerous both 

 in number of species and of individuals. A remarkable phenomenon is 

 the occurrence of marine and of mountain forms. The author suggests 

 that the marine species are brought by birds. 



Swiss Desmids.f— L. Viret gives a list of Desmids from the valley 

 of Salanfe in canton Valais, Switzerland. They were collected on the 

 edge of a lake and in some neighbouring peat-moss, at a height of 

 2000 metres. Forty-seven species w r ere observed, of which eleven are 

 new. They represent eight genera. Descriptions are appended to 

 many of the records. 



Caulerpa4 — A. Weber van Bosse writes on some species of GauUrpa 

 from the island of Tahiti, and also describes a new species of the genus 

 collected by Medley on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Among 

 the Tahiti specimens is a new species, G. Smratii, which is closely allied 

 to C. Brownii var. selaginoides. The author explains her reasons for 

 not following the grouping of Reinke in associating the Bryoideae, 

 Lycopodioideae, and Araucaroidese under one group. She separates the 

 two former, but considers it possible that the two latter may belong to 

 the same section. 



Laminaria hyperborea.§— B. Peressleginn gives an account (unfor- 

 tunately in Russian, but with a short German abstract), of the anatomy 

 of the stipes of Laminaria hyperborea. The material was collected by 

 Foslie in Finmark and given to the author for examination. The 

 stipes possesses a many-celled assimilative tissue, consisting of cells 

 which are rich in phaeoplasts. Further the author records tufts of hairs 

 arising from the external assimilative tissue, as well as the ordinary 

 " fasergriibchen." As regards the various theories put forward by 

 authors as to the function of these fasergriibchen, Peressleginn holds to 

 that of Wille and Reinke, namely, that the hairs serve as imbibition- 

 tissue, thus fulfilling the role of the root-hairs of higher plants. The 



* Archiv Hvdrobiol. u. Plauktonkunde, v. (1910) pp. 365-82 (1 pi.). See also 

 Hedwigia, 1. (1910) p. (99). 



t Bull. Soc. Bot. Geneve, ser. 2, ii. (1910) pp. 184-93 (1 pi.). 



X Ann. Instit. Oc6anograph., ii. (1910) 8 pp. (2 pis.). 



§ Script. Bot. Hort. Univ. Imp. St. Petersburg, xxvi. (1903-9) pp. 99-112 (1 pi.). 



