iQii] Physiological Chemistry at University of Illinois 351 



the white paint about a month after it has been applied. These spots 

 increase in size and change to a purple or dark-red color suggesting 

 the idea of blood having been sprinkled on the paint. The discol- 

 ored areas spread and finally form effused patches several inches in 

 diameter. The fruit of the fungus appears as minute blackish-red 

 warts. One firm of painters during the present year lost over $1,000 

 in consequence of the appearance of the fungus in a large number 

 of cucumber-houses painted with expensive protective paint. 



The spores germinate in pure linseed oil but the mycelium re- 

 mains colorless and produces no fruit. No germination takes place 

 when the spores are sown in pure white lead. The red color sug- 

 gests that the white carbonate of lead undergoes some chemical 

 change induced by the presence of the fungus and resulting in the 

 formation of oxid of lead. The presence of 2 per cent. of carbolic 

 acid in paint completely arrests the development of the fungus. 



This is another illustration of the growth of certain fungi under 

 conditions which would naturally be thought to be toxic to any 

 living plant. — F. J. Seaver. 



II. DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, OF THE 



UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



Professor Hawk was recently elected Chairman of the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois Section of the American Chemical Society. He is 

 now engaged in preparing the manuscript for a fourth edition of 

 his " Practical Physiological Chemistry." 



Dr. Paul E. Howe, instructor in the department, spent a portion 

 of the summer at the University of Chicago doing advanced work 

 in physiology. Though elected to the position of professor of physi- 

 ology and physiological chemistry at the Birmingham Medical Col- 

 lege, Dr. Howe has accepted an increase of salary and reappoint- 

 ment at Illinois. Dr. Howe represented the Gamma Alpha graduate 

 scientific f raternity at the annual meeting in Washington during the 

 holidays. 



Dr. H. A. Mattill, who took his Ph.D. degree in this department 

 in 19 10, was recently made associate professor of physiology and 

 physiological chemistry at the University of Utah. 



