AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 827 



|i|-inci|(l('S <if .1. /)li(ill()i<U's niid tli;it tlic scrum of iiiiiniiiiizcd ;iiiiin;ils is niiti- 

 li.i'iiiiilylic iiihI nutitoxic in cliaraclcr. 



'I'lic lia'inol.vtic iirinciple contained in Amanita and first detected by Kol)ert is 

 not a toxalbunun, as was sni»iv)so(l. I)nt a nitn)K<'n()us fjlncosid whicli is very 

 sensitive toward tlie action of licat and acids and easily decomposed by acids 

 so as to yield a |ientoso and some volatile base or bases, such as ammonia and 

 metbylaniin. Tliis f^lucosid tbe authors have designated as Amanita-ha>mo- 

 lysin. Its i)roi)erties are said to be such as to preclude it from playing any role 

 as a blood poison in the case of poisoning by these mushrooms. 



The influence of mushrooms on the growth of some plants, G. F. Atkin- 

 s().\ {\<'ir York ConicJl ,s7a. liiil. .Vi<K pp. 217-23 '/, fi/js. 11). — The author carried 

 on an investigation to determine whether the substance of various fleshy fungi 

 could be used as food to any extent by green plants in either an undecomposed 

 condition, or when partly or completely decomposed by bacteria or fungi. 



In the spring of 100.^) some preliminary experiments were conducted with the 

 ciiniiuon mushroom (Ayariciis campestris) as a source of plant food for corn, 

 beans, peas, and buckwheat. In the winter and spring of 1906 these experi- 

 ments were repeated with better control. The plants were grown in ([uartz 

 sand, and the nuishroom material was- used fresh in an unfermented condition 

 in some of the pots, while in others it was fermented. Wheat, buckwheat, corn, 

 sunflower, and radishes were i)lanted in the different pots. It was found that 

 the stronger fermented substance produced the richest color and tallest plants, 

 followed by the weakt-r strength of fermented material, while the check plants 

 were the smallest and the poorest in color. An examination of photographs 

 taken of the growing plants showed a constancy in the curve of growth for the 

 different kinds of plants corresponding to the nature of the material supplied. 



Experiments were also carried on with pure cultures with agar-agar as a 

 substnitum, and the results were in the main comparable with those described 

 abov(\ 



The author states in conclusion that the experiments show that a portion of 

 the substance of the common nuishroom and probably of all the Basidiomycetes 

 may become available as food for autotrophic green plants, and that the decom- 

 position in-oducts of heterotrophic plants f(n'm a nearly perfect food for auto- 

 troi)hic ones. 



The ijroperties of culture media as affected by certain products of plant 

 metabolism, O. Soureiner and .7. F. Breazeale (Ahs. in Science, n. ser., 

 2o (inoi), Ao. 638, p. Jfo.'i). — It is claimed that certain products of plant 

 metabolism, such as degradation products of proteids and lecithins, are harmful 

 to seedling plants. Some of these products found in green jtlants lose their 

 toxic i)roi)erties on oxidation and become beneficial. It is pointed out that this 

 cxi)lains the advantage of green manuring over mineral fertilizers. 



On the chemical action of spores, J. Effront illonif. Hci.. .'/. scr., 21 

 (1!)07), Ao. 7X2, pp. 81-87). — While studying the oxidation of albuminoids the 

 author found that albumin coagulated at 110° C. and kept in a humid sterile 

 atmosphere finally showed pronounced euzymic characters. An investigation 

 cf the occurrence of enzyms in sterile media and the chemical action of dead 

 ' ells led him to decide that the appearance of enzyms in sterile media is due to 

 The presence of bacterial spores which still retain their secreting power although 

 their ability to germinate has been destroyed. 



A study of the spores of Bocillus subtilis confirmed this conclusion. It is 

 claimed that si)ores of bacteria retain their property of producing enzyms after 

 their vitality has been destroyed by heat or otherwi.se. The si)oi'es of B. siihtili.<i 

 were found capable of jiroducing large quantities of amylase and peptase. The 

 ]irtKluction of enzyms by bacterial spores increases as the possibility of their 



