BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 220 



phyll escapes from the corpuscle, "together with certain fluid or 

 semi-fluid substances which accompany it, in the form of viscid drops, 

 leaving the ground substance of the corpuscle as a colorless, appar- 

 ently protoplasmic, hollow sphere, with a much perforated wall." 



By this means Dr. Pringsheim vvas able to get some little idea of 

 the nature of Hvpochlorin, a substance whose existence in chloro{)hyll- 

 corpuscles he had previously announced. Under the acid treatment 

 this substance api)ears as dark brown masses which eventually as- 

 sume a crystalloidal appearance. From the fact that no hypochlorin 

 can be detected when the corpuscles are warmed in water or exposed 

 to steam it is inferred that it is decomposed by heat. 



The effects of intense light upon the various cell contents are 

 very interesting. It appears that although under ordinary circum- 

 stances the chlorophyll-corpuscles lose their color when exposed to in- 

 tense light, such will not be the case in the absence of oxygen or in 

 red light. This leads to the conclusion that this decolorization is a 

 result of oxidation and the products gases. 



An unexpected conclusion of Dr. Pringsheim is that in this same 

 chlorophyll corpuscle are carried on the diametrically opposite func- 

 tions of assimilation and respiration. The apparent contradiction is 

 explained thus. The coloring matter of the chlorophyll-cori)uscles 

 absorbing certain rays of light permit the protoplasmic base of the 

 corpuscles to do the work of assimilation ; but this same absorbed 

 light, thus kept from the protoplasmic base, can do the work of respi- 

 ration. If therefore light is too intense these rays are not all absorb- 

 ed and respiratory work overbalances that of assmiilation. Mr. 

 Vines states Prof. Pringsheim's principal results as follows : 



"i. That the presence of chlorophyll favors the assimilatory 

 activity of the chlorophyll-corpuscle in consequence of the absorp- 

 tion, by the chlorophyll, of light, which would promote respiratory ac- 

 tivity. 



2. That hypochlorin is the substance which is the first visible 

 product of this assimilative activity, and that the other substances 

 (starch, glucose, oil, tannin) which are found in chlorojihyll corpus- 

 cles are derived from hypochlorin by oxidation." — -J. M. C. 



Some New Mexican Ferns. II.— Three NothoUxnas grow 



here, all of great beauty. The largest, N. sitiiuita. KauHuss, is a 

 very peculiar fern, as well as a very handsome one. Tha fronds grow 

 in clumps o.*" five or six, anl are from one to two feet long while 

 their extreme width is less than two inches. It is simply ])innate, the 

 pinnae large, roundish, and crenate-sinuate. alternate on the rarhis, 

 of a bright green color above, and below covered very densely with a 

 yellowish brown pubescence which becomes darker as the season ad- 

 vances. It is from the clor of the lower side that it receives its com 

 nion name of ' 1"he Golden Fern." It usually grows among rocks on 

 the hillsides, where it is exposed to the brightest sunshine. When it 

 grows in the shade is becomes very tall and slender, and somewhat 

 drooping. It fruits durmg October. 



Notholcena Ilookeri, D. C. Eaton, rarely reaches a foot in height ; 



