BOTANICAL GAZETTE 



301 



are almost entirely algse of microscopic size and very low organization, mostly 

 unicellular. The most prominent and most abundant of the plants is the fa- 

 mous " red snow," Sphrrella nivalis, and next to it, and the only plant limited 

 entirely to the ice flora, is a new species discovered by Nordenskjold and Berg- 

 gren and named Anculonema NordenskjoldU. This latter plant occurs in such 

 abundance that it gives the ground a purple-brown color, and Baron Nor- 

 denskjold thinks it has much to do with the melting of the ice. 



It now appears that even the spermogonia of Dredinece attract insects by 



a sweet secretion, and that doubtless the spermatia are carried away by them. 



The Bulletin of the Buffalo Naturalists' Field Club continues in its 



fourth number a goodly number of interesting botanical notes, chiefly by David 



F. Day, Esq. 



The First Annual Report of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station 

 is before us, and is full of matter interesting to botanists. The director, Prof. 

 W. R. Lazenby, does his work in such a scientific spirit that we expect not only 

 agriculture, but physiological botany to share in the results. 



In the Twelfth Annual Report of the State Geologist for Indiana, just 

 published, is a catalogue of the plants of the central-eastern part of the state, 

 prepared by Dr. A. J. Phinney, of Muncie. The list is interesting in many 

 respects, not the least of which is that it comes from the highest ground in the 

 state and a region little visited by botanists. 



We are surprised to learn, through a letter from De Bary to Dr. Far- 

 low, that Dr. Engelmann is cpiite ill at Strassburg. He sailed from this coun- 

 try late in June. 



Too late for our last issue we learned that Poulson's Botanische Mikro- 

 chemie is being translated by Mr. Wm. Trelease, and what we "hoped" in the 

 review was already being accomplished. We understand that Cassino is to 

 publish it, and with a full realization that it is to be used in the laboratory. We 

 bespeak for it a hearty reception into the botanical laboratories of this country. 



A great work is being done for botanists at the N. Y. Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, under the direction of Dr. E. L. Sturtevant, A command of 

 money and a most suggestive mind have made possible series of experiments 

 upon a more extensive scale than ever attempted in this country before. Dr. 

 Sturtevant, while keeping agriculture in the foreground, is quietly laying up 

 an immense store of material for the philosophical botanist. He is bringing 

 to bear upon plants every possible influence that can be made to affect their 

 growth, and really he is seeing incipient species springing up* under his own 

 manipulation andean recognize the forces that are effecting the change. Many 

 other experimenters in agriculture are seeing the same results, but very few 

 have the acuteness to discern the causes. This work has but begun, but we 

 look for it to become a source of unlimited material not only for the agricul- 

 turist but for the professional botanist. Already has Dr. Sturtevant intimated 

 certain results which will completely overturn and tear up by the roots some 

 of our preconceived notions, and one of these days we may look for something 

 startling. 



