382 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Macaranga, Balanops, Ficus. Several new genera are described. 

 Mr. Baber creates Comptonella (Rutacese), Salaciopsis (Celas- 

 trineae), Montagneia (Anacardiaceae), Paracryphia (Eucry- 

 phiacese), and Enochoria (Araliaceae). Spencer Moore creates 

 Tropalanthe (Sapotaceae), Merismostigma (Rubiaceae), Dopanthus 

 (Gesneraceae), Adenodaphne (Lauraceae), and Dendrophyllanthus 

 (Euphorbiaceae). 



In the Journal of Botany for August H. W. Pugsley deals 

 with the British forms oi Jasione montana. Fawcett and Rendle 

 describe a new Jamaican species of Triumfetta and Spencer 

 Moore new species of Pelargonium, Rhus, Conihretum, Dady- 

 lopetalum, Tribulocarpus, Oldenlandia, Felicia, Euryops, Senecio, 

 Schizoglossum, and Selago. In the September number Col. 

 Godfrey describes a new European Serapias, Miss Lister a new 

 Arcyria, and Spencer Moore a new genus of Olacaceae, viz. 

 Phanerocalyx, and several new species of other genera. 



PLANT PHYSIOLOGY. By Cyril West, B.A.. D.Sc. Botany School, 

 Cambridge (Plant Physiology Committee). 



Growth of the Higher Plants. — It will be seen, from the 

 following brief review of recent work on the growth of the 

 higher plants, that the last few years have been characterised 

 by the advance made in our knowledge of this fundamental 

 problem of plant physiology. 



At the outset attention should be directed to the researches 

 of W. L. Balls {Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc, B, 191 2-1 7), on the 

 growth of the Cotton Plant in Egypt. This notable work, 

 which extended over a number of years and is an experimental 

 analysis of the various conditions controlling the growth of a 

 single crop has, however, already been referred to in these 

 notes (see Science Progress, No. 47, 191 8, pp. 412-13). 



Suzuki (" On the Growth of the Rice Plant," Bull. No. 124 

 of the Agric. Exper. Sta., Govt, of Formosa, December 191 7) 

 has published the results of a comprehensive study of the 

 growth of the rice plant, in which he not only records the rate 

 of increase in dry-weight of the entire plant and of its various 

 parts at successive stages of growth, but also gives the protein, 

 dextrose, glucose, saccharose, starch, nitrogen, potash, soda, 

 lime, magnesia, phosphoric acid, and ferric oxide content. An 

 investigation of a somewhat similar character has been carried 

 out by J. S. Burd (" Rate of Absorption of Soil Constituents 

 at Successive Stages of Plant Growth," Journ. Agric. Res., 

 xviii. No. 2, 1 91 9, p. 51). The chemical composition of 

 barley grown on two different types of soil was studied, and 

 the total dry-weight of the plant recorded at successive stages 



