ZOOLOGY AND BOTANV, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 70 9 



Another new genns of Dematiefe, C'ephalomyces, was discovered ; 

 black septate spores are grouped on the upper half of vesicular heads. 



GUocladium roseum. and Ceplialospormm acremoninm have been culti- 

 vated and carefully described and figured. The specimen of the latter 

 he suggests may be a new species, as it departs considerably from the 

 typical appearance of the mould. 



New American Fungi. — Geo. F. Atkinson and C. AV. Edgerton* 

 found a fungus growing on the stems and pods of a vetch in company 

 with Ascochyta. It grows below the epidermis which it splits, and the 

 spores ooze out in a mass. These are borne 4-8 on the basidia, which 

 form a definite hymenium. The name Frotocoronospora has been given 

 to the new^ genus. 



J. J. Davisf also describes a parasitic fungus, Protomyces gravidus 

 sp. n., which grew on Bideiis. He compares it with a species found on 

 Ambrosia, and finds great similarity between the forms. 



Nitrogen Assimilation of Fungi. | — Charlotte Ternetz has con- 

 ducted a series of investigations into the question of assimilation of free 

 nitrogen by fungi, and claims to have proved that it takes place to a 

 much greater extent than was previously known. She selected fungi 

 from the roots of Ericace^, and has in the course of her work diagnosed 

 five new species of Phoma. The power of nitrogeir assimilation was 

 proved to vary for different fungi. PeniciUium glaucum and Aspergillus 

 niger absorbed very Uttle, probably only doing so when grown in 

 nitrogen-free cultures. Methods are given, and quantities calculated. 



Case of Poisoning. — The case is reported from America, and was 

 traced to the eating of Amanita phalloides. Otto E. Jennings,§ who 

 visited the neighbourhood where it occurred and identified the fungus, 

 writes an account of the fatal attack. He describes the symptoms, 

 which were those usually ascribed to the action of phallin poisoning. 



Gotthold Hahn || discusses the fungi that proved fatal in a poisoning 

 case at Gera in August, 1005. There also, several liarmful fungi were 

 eaten, but the most deadly was Amanita phalloides. Several poisonous 

 Lactarii had also been used, L. pyrogalus, L. turpis, and L. torminosus. 

 The writer adds a warning against Scleroderma vulgare. 



Influence of Fungi on Bacterial Cultures.^ — E. Friedliinder and 

 H. Doepner found that when phosphorescent bacteria in their cultu7'es 

 had entirely lost the power of emitting liglit, they could lie restoi'cd l)y 

 the introduction of a filamentous fungus {Mucor stolonifer, A'spergillus 

 niger imd fiimigatHs, and PeniciUium glaucum) into the culture. They 

 did not entirely determine the reason for this ; the fungi made the 

 cultures more alkaline, and that had some influence, but not enough to 

 explain the rather remarkable efl^ect. 



* Journ. Mycol., xiii. (1907) pp. 185-6. / f Tom. cit., pp. 188-9. 



X Jahrb. Wiss. Bot., xliv. (1907) pp. 353-408 ,'(2 figs.). See also Hedwigia, 

 xlvii. (1907) pp. 18-20 (Beibl.). § Journ./MycoL, xiii. (1907) pp. 187-8. 



II- Jahresb. Ges. Freund. Nat. Gera, Russigi, 19O6 pp 104-7. See also 

 Centralbl. Bakt., xix. (1907) p. 327. / ' 



t Centralbl. Bakt., xliii. (1907) pp. 1-7. Sejg also Bot. Centralbl., cv. (1907) 

 pp. 58-9. I 



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