AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 437 



tisNh)in, I,. Npicnta, Ant/racinii fnu/rdus, and Mclihttiis nfflcinalin, in which cou- 

 marin occurs alone or in conihination with other substances. 



The experiments show that both anesthetics and freezing liberate the cou- 

 marin very rapidly and that the characteristic odor from frozen green plants 

 can be recognized in a few moments where ordinarily it is not apparent until 

 after the plants have become more or less dried. 



On the presence of two new glucosids in Primula officinalis, A. CJoris and 

 M. Masckk iCoiiiiit. Rvitil. AciKl. .SV-/. |/V(/(.sl, I ',!i ( IHO't). .\". 21, /)/>. .a) 7 -.0.70).— 

 'rhe authois state tliat fresh roots of primulas which have been frozen give off 

 more oi- less rapidly a substance having the odor of anise. This fact led to the 

 investigation of related species, and it was found that a species of Primula 

 could be divided into three groups, depending on the odor given off after 

 freezing. 



A study was made of P. offiriiidlifi to determine the reason for the liberation 

 of this odor, and the authors found two glucosids, primeveriue and priniula- 

 verine, i)resent, together with an eiizyni, prinieverase. 



The occurrence of rennets in the Basidiomycetes, C. Okrber (Coin /it. Rrud. 

 Acad. Sci. [Paris], 1J,9 (1909), No. 21, pp. 9U-9.'i7).—A study was made of 8(5 

 species of Basidiomycetes to determine the relative activity of the rennet in the 

 fresh juice of these fleshy fungi, comparisons being made with the rennet ex- 

 tracted from Amonita citrina. ilauy of the si)ecies. particularly those of 

 Trametes, Polyjiorus, Tricholoma. etc., contained reunet which is as active as 

 that of the higher vegetable rennets or the animal rennets, while, on the other 

 hand, many contained this substance in very small quantity. 



Marked differences were found to occur in the coagulating power of rennet 

 obtained from different species of the same genus of mushrooms, and in the case 

 of the agarics and Gasteromycetes the most active rennet was obtained from the 

 hymenial portion of the fungus. 



The author divides the rennets obtained from the P.asidiomycetes into two 

 groups based upon their resistance to teniiierature. 



The role of nitrogen and its compounds in plant metabolism, .1. M. Petkie 

 (Proc. Linn. Soc. A. .S". Wales, 33 {I90S). pt. //, /)/), <S(>/-.Si'/).— After a histor- 

 ical review of literature relating to this subject, in which more than 100 articles 

 are referred to, an account is given of the author's studies of the nonprotein 

 nitrogen in seeds. A discussion is presented of the various methods employed 

 for the precipitation of protein, after which the results are given of a study of 

 the seeds of ^0 species of plants, in which the protein that is not precipitated 

 by alcohol was determined. It appears that from 12 to 33 per cent of the 

 nitrogen in seeds occurs in forms that are not precipitated by alcohol, and these 

 figures are believed to represent the minimum proportions. 



In a special study of the seeds of Acacia pycnantha the author found 4.") per 

 cent of the nitrogen to be nonprotein nitrogen, and he believes that the impor- 

 tance of this form of niti'ogen in the economy of the plant has been under- 

 estimated. 



Studies of the carbohydrates in seeds, E. Schulze and C. Godet (Ztschr. 

 Physiol. Chcm., 61 (1909), Ao. Jf-5, pp. 219-351; ahs. in Jour. Chem. Soc. [Lon- 

 don], 96 (1909), No. 56.',. II, pp. 82 'i, 825).— An investigation was made to 

 determine the nature of the carbohydrates present in the seeds of a large num- 

 ber of plants. The studies were made of the decorticated seed and of the seed 

 coats. 



In about one dozen representative species no pentoses or hexoses were pres- 

 ent in the ungerminated seeds. Sucrose was detected in nearly every one of the 

 27 species examined, white and blue lupines alone giving negative results, and 



