AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 525 



In the review of this article by W. T. Swingle the name " heterogamie " ap- 

 plied to this dimorphism of the gametes by de Vries is rejected as being one 

 used in too many different senses, and the term " allogametism " is proposed in 

 its place. Then the pollen grains and ovules of O. hicnnis and 0. murwata 

 would be called " allogametes." 



Hereditary characters and their modes of transmission, C. E. Walker 

 (London, J DIG, pp. XII +239, figs. 21). — The present volume is an attempt to 

 apply recent discoveries as well as experimental work upon colls to some prob- 

 lems in heredity, thereby harmonizing the results of the Mendelian experiments 

 with the observations of the biometricians. This the author claims to have done 

 by showing that some parts of the cell involved in fertilization are distributed 

 in an alternative manner, while other parts simply divide in bulk. Two classes 

 of characters which behave in different manners in regard to inheritance are 

 suggested, one individual and the other racial, each with a different mode of 

 transmission. 



Suggestions concerning the terminology of soil bacteria, J. G. Lipman 

 (Bat. Gaz., 51 (1911), No. 6, pp. //5/,-.'/6"0 ) .—After calling attention to the gen- 

 eral confusion existing in the terminology of the soil bacteria, the author sug- 

 gests arranging the groups of these organisms according to their physiological 

 functions. 



The following grouping is suggested and its merits are discussed: Ammono- 

 and de-ammono-bacteria. nitro- and de-nitro-bacteria, proteo- and de-proteo- 

 bacteria, azoto- and de-azoto-bacteria, sulpho- and de-sulpho-bacteria, and 

 ferri-bacteria ; the corresponding terms are ammonitication and deammonifi- 

 cation, nitrification and denitrification, proteofication and deproteofication, 

 azotoficatiou and deazotoflcation, sulphofication and desulphofication, and ferri- 

 fication and deferritication. 



The influence of bacteria upon soil fertility, C. M. Hutchinson (Agr. Jour. 

 India, 6 {1911), Xo. 2, pp. 91-113, pis. If). — After a general discussion of the 

 effects of tillage, irrrigation, drainage, and manuring on the activity of certain 

 soil bacteria, the author describes the methods in use in his laboratory to de- 

 termine the reaction of soils to various agricultural operations involved in soil 

 bacteriology. These include methods used in plating soil bacteria and in study- 

 ing nitrification and ammonification in soils. 



Bacteriological methods for the estimation of soil acidity, J. G. Lipman 

 (Science, n. ser., 33 (1911), No. 860, pp. 971-973).— It is claimed that no satis- 

 factory method has yet been found for measuring accurately the acidity of soils. 

 The author suggests using the well-known fact that bacteria as a rule do not 

 flourish in acid media, by inoculating neutral bouillon media with varying 

 amounts of the acid soil under investigation and noting the resulting bacterial 

 growth. 



Preliminary experiments along these lines have demonstrated that the 

 amount of acid present in cultivated soils may be determined quite accurately 

 by comparing bouillon of varying reactions with equivalent quantities of 

 neutral bouillon containing varying amounts of soil, or different quantities of 

 soil may be added to measured amounts of bouillon, then sterilized and inocu- 

 lated with a standard culture of ammonifying bacteria, and the varying 

 amounts of ammonia given off used as a measure of the soil acidity. 



The bacteriotoxins and the " agricere " of soils, Greig-Smith (Centbl. Bakt. 

 [etc.], 2. Abt., 30 (1911), No. 7-12, pp. 1 5 Jf-l 5 6). —The author gives a brief pre- 

 liminary note on work done in the laboratory of the Linnean Society of New 

 South Wales, in which the presence of bacteriotoxins in soils is investigated. 



The author claims that such toxins are undoubtedly present in the soil, and 

 that he has extracted a greater quantity from a poor soil than from a good one. 



