86 PHYSIOLOGY [BoT. Absts., Vol. VIII, 



603. Savage, W. G. Food poisoning and food infections, viii + 24-7 p. University 

 Press: Cambridge, 1920. — This small handbook is one of the Cambridge Public Health Series 

 published under the editorship of G. S. Graham-Smith and J. E. Purvis. It is intended to 

 be a reference work for the medical profession and to instruct public health and hygienic 

 committees; but it also includes several chapters involving certain physiological relations of 

 the bacteria, and containing data not usually assembled in bacteriological handbooks. — 

 B. M. Duggar. 



604. Sauvageau, Camille. Utilisation des algues marines. [Utilization of marine 

 algae.] 394 p., 26 fig. Librairie Octave Doin: Paris, 1920. — The fourth volume of the Ency- 

 clopedie Scientifique published under the direction of Dr. Toulouse has just appeared and 

 deals in a comprehensive manner with the economic uses of seaweeds. After a general intro- 

 duction on the marine algae, there is a full discussion of the kelps, including Nereocystis, 

 Macrocystis, and Alaria, on the Pacific coast, together with the methods of harvesting this 

 plant. The use of algae for fertilizers is treated in the second chapter and includes consid- 

 erable valuable information as to the analysis and practical value of this material for agri- 

 cultural purposes. The uses of the brown and red algae in various industries are treated at 

 length and a short discussion of the making of paper from Zostera and Posodonia is included. 

 There is a full summary of the information extant on the use and value of marine algae for 

 food, and the work concludes with brief references to various other ways in which algae have 

 been used, particularly in medicine. There are brief notes on the method of collecting and 

 mounting algae for artistic effect, as well as some information on the cultivation of marine 

 forms. A fairly complete bibliography on the entire subject is appended. — George T. Moore. 



PROTOPLASM, MOTILITY 



605. Bailet, I. W. The significance of the cambium in the study of certain physiolog- 

 ical problems. Jour. Gen. Physiol. 2 : 519-533. 1920. — The author suggests that cambium 

 cells furnish very desirable material for studies of certain problems such as the working 

 sphere of the nucleus, the nucleocytoplasmic relation, the dynamics of karyokinesis, and 

 cytokinesis. The cells are of 2 distinct types, small, nearly isodiametric cells, more or less 

 similar to terminal meristem and embryo cells, and large, much elongated cells. The elongated 

 cells can be induced to divide to form cells of the small type. Data are presented showing 

 that there may be no very close relation between nuclear size, number or mass of chromo- 

 somes, and cell size. — Otis F. Curtis. 



DIFFUSION, PERMEABILITY 



606. Lesage, Pierre. Experiences utilisables en physiologie vegetale, sur I'osmose et 

 sur I'aspiration due a I'evaporation. [Experiments useful in plant physiology, on osmosis and 

 gaseous exchange due to evaporation.] Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris 171: 358-360. 1920. — 

 An experiment of Dutrochet was repeated using various liquids and a membrane of aceto- 

 cellulose. It was found that this membrane, varying with its origin and manipulation, cannot 

 always be depended upon to produce osmosis. — C. H. Farr. 



607. LoEB, Jacques. The reversal of the sign of the charge of membranes by hydrogen 

 ions. Jour. Gen. Physiol. 2: 577-594. 1920. — The sign of the electrical charge on a collodion 

 membrane treated with protein becomes positive when the hydrogen-ion concentration 

 exceeds a certain limit. Evidence is presented showing that a film of protein adheres to the 

 membrane, and that the hydrogen-ion concentration at which reversal of the sign of the 

 charge on the membrane takes place, varies in the same sense as the isoelectric point of the 

 protein used. — Otis F. Curtis. 



608. Raber, Oran L. The antagonistic action of anions. Jour. Gen. Physiol. 2: 541-544. 

 1920. — By the electrical conductivity method of Osterhout in experiments with Laminaria 

 Agardhii the author finds antagonism between anions of sodium acetate and sodium sulfate. — 

 L. Knudson. 



