64 PHYSIOLOGY (Bot. Absts. 



galls produced by a species of Eriophyes on sumac. Rhus copallina and R. glabra, a fact that 

 was overlooked by Miss Fagan in her paper on the uses of insect galls (Auier. Nat. 52: 155- 

 176. 1918). — These galls occur abundantly in Minnesota and are collected in late summer by 

 the medicine men, who use them in an infusion as a remedy for diarrhoea and in poultice for 

 the treatment of burns. — A. B. Massey. 



432. Schmidt, Elsa. A new method for a separate extraction ,of hydrastine and ber- 

 berine from golden seal on a large scale, and a review study of the two alkaloids. Amer. Jour. 

 Pharm. 91: 270-275. 1919. — The paper deals with the separate extraction of hydrastine and 

 berberine, the hydrastine being extracted by the use of benzol and the berberine by hot 

 water acidulated with acetic acid, after the extraction of the hydrastine. The author also 

 gives methods for the estimation of these two alkaloids, tests for same, method for detection 

 in plants and a few notes on the properties and uses of these two alkaloids. — Anton Hogstad, 

 Jr. 



PHYSIOLOGY 



B. M. Duggar, Editor 

 GENERAL 



433. Collins, S. Hoare. Plant products and chemical fertilizers, xvi+296 p. Bail- 

 Here, Tindall and Cox: London, 1918. — This is one of a series of books proposed on "Indus- 

 trial Chemistry." The present volume is divided about equally into four parts as follows: 

 (1) fertilizers, (2) soils, (3) crops, and (4) the production of meat. In the third part is included 

 most of the plant physiological material and the various sections represent the subject under 

 the following captions: photosynthesis, the carbohydrates produced in crops, the oil-bearing 

 plants, the nitrogen compounds in plants, miscellaneous plant products, and produce varia- 

 bility. — B. M. Duggar. 



DIFFUSION, PERMEABILITY 



434. Stiles, Walter, and Ingvar Jorgensen. On the relation of plasmolysis to the 

 shrinkage of plant tissue in salt solutions. New Phytol. 18: 40-49. Fig. 1-2. 1919. — This is 

 essentially an answer to D. Thoday's paper (New Phytol. 17: 108. 1918). — /. F. Lewis. 



435. Waynick, D. D. The chemical composition of the plant as further proof of the close 

 relation between antagonism and cell permeability. Univ. California Publ. (Agric. Sci.) 3: 

 135-243. PL 1S-24, fig. 1-26. 1918. 



WATER RELATIONS 



436. Gray, John, and George J. Peirce. The influence of light upon the action of 

 stomata and its relation to the transpiration of certain grains. Amer. Jour. Bot. 6: 131-155. 

 Fig. 1-18. 1919. — The work of F. Darwin and of Lloyd on the action of stomata is briefly 

 reviewed. In the present paper the action of the stomata is studied in wheat, oats, rye, bar- 

 ley and wild oats (Avenafatua), growing in moist soil, in saturated soil and in dry soil, and 

 under different degrees of temperature, humidity and illumination. Direct observations and 

 measurements of the stomatal aperture were made in the living leaf by fastening it gently to 

 the stage of a microscope. — The opening and closing of the stomata depend chiefly upon light, 

 since they were found to open in light and to close in darkness, almost independently of other 

 factors. An increase or decrease in the amount of light has a corresponding effect upon the 

 width of the stomatal openings. If the amount of water in the soil falls below the minimum 

 needed to maintain the turgidity of the guard cells, however, they will remain closed regard- 

 less of the illumination. Wild oats in the greenhouse behave essentially like the other spe- 

 cies studied, but, unlike them, when grown out of doors, the stomata close in the middle of 



