208 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Fresh-water Algse of Toulouse and Pyrenees.*— J. Comere gives 

 an accouut of the fresh-water nlgse of the districts around Toulouse and 

 in the Central Pyrenees. He enumerates about 280 species, mostly 

 collected by himself, and priucipally consisting of Chlorophycege. Many 

 of the species are new records for France. 



Alg-se of Cambridg^eshire.t — G. S. West gives a list of the fresh- 

 . water algffi in A. H. Evans's Short Flora of Cambridgeshire, witii records 

 of localities. The total number is about 400 species and forty-five 

 varieties. 



Ulva and Sewage. |—E. A. Letts aud E. H. Richards report on 

 green seaweeds, especially C^lva latissima, and their relation to the pollu- 

 tion of the waters in which they occur. The Ulva plants were cultivated 

 artificially in various strengths of sewage-polluted water, and under 

 various conditions ; and the eflfect on the rate of growth and on the 

 composition of the alga was carefully noted. It was found that growth 

 is more rapid in polluted than in pure sea-water. The effect of the 

 sewage is most marked during the period of active growth. The 

 nitrogen-content of the alga varies in proportion to the amount of 

 pollution present. In plants from Belfast Lough the nitrogen-content 

 varies from 8-5 p.c, whereas in pure water plants from Swanage it is 

 1'13 p.c. The sulphur-content of the alga also varies, but apparently 

 without relation to the proportion of sewage ; its importance consists in 

 its presumed connexion with the sulphuretted hydrogen liberated during 

 the decay of the alga, and causing a nuisance. 



Chlorodesmis and Rhyti8iphon.§ — F. Brand gives a short historical 

 account of Chlorodesmis, with which genus he recognizes the identity of 

 his recently published genus RJiytisiplion. Chlorodesmis was established 

 by Harvey and Bailey nearly sixty years ago upon material obtained 

 from the Pacific Islands. Brand's material was collected in Tahiti by 

 J. E. Tilden, and, according to the author, is not identical with Harvey's 

 C. comom, wide as the distribution of the latter is. 



Algae of Lower California.! — M. A. Howe gives an account of 

 some marine algae of Lower California, Mexico. Only one paper had 

 been published previously on the algae of that district, and that was by 

 P. Hariot. Harlot's paper^ recorded five marine algse, three being new 

 to science. Howe's paper contains twenty-seven species, all additional 

 to Harlot's, and mainly collected by G. J. Vives. Seven of the .species 

 are new. 



Adriatic Algae.** — H. Cammerloher writes on the algaj of the 

 Adriatic islands Pelagosa and Pomo. The principal species is Cystoseira 

 Montagnei var. moniliformis. Peyssonelia rubra occurs in an abnormal 



* Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Toulouse, xliv. (1911) 52 pp. 



t Proc. Cambridge Phil. Sec, xvi. (1911) pp. 259-75. 



X Roy. Gomm. Sewage Disp. Rep., vii. App 3 (1911) pp. 72-120. 



§ Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xxix. (1911) pp. 606-11 (figs.). 



II Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, xxxviii. (1911) pp. 489-514 (8 pis. and fig.). 



4 Journ. Botauique, ix. (1895) pp. 167-170. 



** OesteiT. Bot. Zeitschr., Ixi. (1911) pp. 373-81, 417-24 (figs.). 



