634 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Fresh-water Alg-se of the South Orkneys.* — F. E. Fritsch publishes 

 a revised account of the fresh-water algas collected by the Scottish 

 Antarctic Expedition (1902-4) at the South Orkneys, and divides his 

 report into four chapters : — 1. Introductory remarks, treating of pre- 

 vious publications ; the nature of the flora of the South Orkneys, as 

 compared with those of Kerguelen and South Georgia (as described by 

 P. Reinsch) ; the rarity of reproductive stages, owing probably to the 

 low temperature — even in summer it does not rise above the average of 

 '32" F. 2. Yellow snow, its character and constitution ; it contains 

 some 18 species ; and these are separately discussed. The presence of 

 masses of fat in the cells is described, and its significance explained. 

 ;-}. Red snow, its constitution — 11 species. 4. Systematic enumeration 

 of all the fresh-water algje. These consist of 68 species arranged in 

 44 genera, A new genus, Scotidla (Scenedesmacea^), 7 new species and 

 some varieties, are described and figured, and numerous critical notes are 

 intercalated. 



Fresh-water Algse of the Klistenland.t — J. Greger publishes a 

 contribution to the algal flora of the Kiistenland, or Adriatic coastland 

 of Austria. The material was collected by Ritter von Beck during the 

 years 1003-7. The extremely scattered nature of the earlier records has 

 induced Greger to divide his work into two parts : — (1) A classified 

 enumeration of the species collected by Ritter von Beck ; (2) a synopsis 

 of all the fresh-water algse previously recorded for the Kiistenland. 



Verticillate Siphonese of the Trias. | — J. v. Pia pubhshes some 

 new studies of the Siphoned Verticillata? of the Trias, in which he dis- 

 cusses the anatomy of the Diploporidae, their stem, branches, calcareous 

 coating, etc. Coming to the systematic aspect, he describes and discusses 

 the genera Macroporella (new), GyroporeUa Giimbel, Teutloporella (new), 

 OUgoporella (new), Physoporella Steinmann, Kantia (new), Diplopora 

 Schafhautl, and considers their phylogenetic relationships. He then 

 treats of their geological distribution ; reviews the literature of the 

 group, and gives a tabulated synopsis of the dimensions of the various 

 parts of the 22 species dealt with in his paper. 



Endocellular Formations in Rhodophyce8B.§ — F. Nicolosi-Roncati, 

 employing the methods of Benda and Altmanii, finds endocellular bodies 

 in the carpospores and tetraspores of certain Rhodophycese which recall 

 the chondriosomes of animals and of Phanerogams. The species in 

 question are Lemanea tornlosa, Gigariina Teedii, Gastrodonmm reflexum, 

 etc. He cannot atfirm the homology of these bodies with mitochondria, 

 but he uses this name for them, since it applies to all endocellular forma- 

 tions with similar morphological and microchemical characters. The 

 best examples were observed in Lemanea tondosa, where they formed 

 an anastomosing filamentous mass, with a granular structure, sometimes 

 appearing moniliform, 



* Scottish Nat. Antarct. Exped., iii. Botany (1912) pp. 95-134 (2 pis. and figs.), 

 t Hedwigia, Iii. (1912) pp. 324-39. 



X Beitr. zur Palaontologie und Geologie Oesterreich uud des Orients. Wien 

 und Leipzig, xxv. (1912) pp. 25-81 (7 pis. and figs.). 

 § Bull. Sec. Bot. Ital. (1912) pp. 59-62. 



