iqiq] current literature 275 



intake of water by the roots and its transpiration from the leaves have been 

 much investigated, but " the behavior of the wood as the intervening conducting 

 channel has almost entirely been neglected." The method used was to measure 

 the amount of water passing in a given time and at standard pressure through a 

 definite length of twig, the area of the cross-section of the wood being carefully 

 measured. The paper includes two parts, one dealing with evergreens and 

 the other with deciduous plants. 



Some of the res.ults are as follows. The specific conductivity of evergreens 

 is relatively low, while that of deciduous plants is relatively high, and with a 

 higher fluctuation. Some of the deciduous trees are more influenced by 

 environmental conditions than are others. Considerable difference, in a 

 lowering of conductivity, was found between the adult wood of the tree and 

 that of "leaders" of young trees, a difference which becomes "exaggerated" 

 in the main shoot of most cHmbers. The wood of arborescent monocotyledons 

 was found to be defective in water-conductivity. The facts suggest that the 

 lower conductivity of evergreens may be attributed to their narrow and short 

 vessels. — J. M. C. 



The Journal of General Physiology. — Many will welcome a new Journal 

 of general physiology.'^ Both plant and animal physiology have suffered from 

 being too little related and treated as distinct subjects. Such a publication 

 will aid in bringing them into closer relation. This journal is sure of sufficient 

 financial support and no doubt able editorship. Its aim is stated as follows: 

 " The Journal of General Physiology is devoted to the explanation of Hfe phenom- 

 ena on the basis of the physical and chemical constitution of living matter." 

 The first number contains the following articles: On the dynamics of photo- 

 synthesis, W. J. V. OsTERHOUT and A. R. C. Haas; A method of studying 

 respiration, W. J. V. Osterhout; The antagonism between thyroid and 

 parethyroid glands, E. Uhlenhuth; Difference in the action of radium on 

 green plants in the presence and absence of light, C. Packard; Amphoteric 

 coUoids, J. Loeb; A theory of the mechanism of disinfection, hemolysis, and 

 similar processes, S. C. Brooks; The law controlling the quantity of regenera- 

 tion of the stem of Bryophyllum calycinum, J. Loeb; Reversal of reaction by 

 means of strychnine in planarians and starfish, H. R. Moore; Light and the 

 muscle tonus of insects; the heliotropic mechanism, W. E. Garrey; Lutear 

 cells and hen-feathering, Alice M. Boring and T. H. Morgan. — Wm. 

 Crocker. 



Embryo sac and fertilization in Oenothera. — Ishikawa''' has investigated 

 the behavior of the gametophytes and the fertilization phenomena in 0. nutans 



^^ The Journal of General Physiology, editors, Jacques Loeb and W. J. V. Oster- 

 hout. Published bimonthly by the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. 

 Vol. I. No. I. September 1918. Subscription $5.00. 



'" IsHiKAWA, M., Studies on the embryo sac and fertilization in Oenothera. Ann, 

 Botany 32:279-317. pi. 7. figs. 14. 1918. 



