324 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECOKD. 



Transpiration by Viscum album in comparison with that by other plants, 

 deciduous or evergreen, Z. Kameeling {Ber. Deut. Bot. Gesell., 32 {191If), 

 No. 1, pp. 10-16, figs. 2). — Separated shoots of mistletoe, apple, poplar, conifers, 

 etc., exposed to evaporation showed some striking differences in water loss per 

 unit area of foliage during the early stages of experiment. The relatively 

 larger transpiring surface soon led to wilting and death of the deciduous shoots 

 employed, while the evergreen, presumably through better stomatal control, 

 resisted desiccation for a longer time. The desiccation curves of V. album lay 

 between those of the two classes above mentioned, though showing some ir- 

 regularities which are ascribed to a possible antagonism between the guard 

 and neighboring cells of the stomatal apparatus. 



Transpiration experiments with tropical Loranthaceae, Z. Kamerling (Ber. 

 Deut. Bot. Gesell., 32 (1914), ^^o- i^ PP- I'^-^h fiff- l)-—lt appears from experi- 

 ments with Loranthus pentandrus on Mangifera indica in Java that the daily 

 loss per unit area of leaf surface of the parasite was about 50 per cent greater 

 than that of the host, this difference beiug accentuated during the hotter part of 

 the day, owing, presumably, to the observed better control of the stomata by the 

 host. The same general relation was apparent in case of L. dichrous and its 

 host Psidium guajava. This high evaporation rate is considered as significant 

 in connection with the injury to the host plant noted in case of these growths, 

 sometimes resulting in desiccation and death of the part beyond the location 

 of the semiparasite. 



Nitrogen transformations in some Actinomycetes, II, F. Mijnter (Centbl. 

 Bakt. [etc.], 2. Abt., 39 (1914), No. 23-25, pp. 561-583, figs. 3).— Reporting the 

 completion of work previously given in part (E. S. R., 29, p. 222), the author 

 states that in the present series of studies employing the same organisms as 

 formerly (Actinomyces odorifer, A. chromogenes, A. albus, and three species 

 of Actinomyces from German East Africa), it was found that all these are 

 capable of separating ammonia from organic sources. No formation of am- 

 monia compounds from nitrates was noted. The nitrogen which disappeared 

 from nitrates in solution was almost wholly recovered from the organisms. 

 Alkaline media developed a slender mycelium, neutral media a heavier, ranker 

 tissue, and those of acid reaction gave mycelium of a peculiar swollen appear- 

 ance. These organisms, grown in solutions with Azotobacter, checked the activ- 

 ity of the latter and this was true of them in higher degree in connection with 

 other fungi, yeasts, and Actinomycetes tested. 



Reduction of nitrates to nitrites and ammonia by bacteria, M. Klaeser 

 (Ber. Deut. Bot. Gesell., 32 (1914), No. 1, pp. 58-6i).— Reporting on studies 

 employing 28 species of bacteria in nutritive solutions of varying composition, 

 the author holds that nitrates and nitrites are probably not formed by these 

 bacteria from ammonia or from peptone, but that a number of them do form 

 ammonia from peptone. 



Studies on anthocyanin. — I, Color in the cornflower, R. Willstatteb and 

 A. E. Everest (Liebigs Ann. Chem., 401 (1913), No. 2, pp. 189-232, figs. 4; abs. 

 in Gard. Chran., 3. ser., 55 (1914), No. 1419, p. 168). — To a brief discussion of 

 previous work by others on flower coloration, the authors add the results to 

 date of their own experimental studies on problems related to the chemical 

 composition and history of anthocyanin pigments in plants, in particular Cen- 

 taurea cyanus. 



It is claimed that the successful isolation and study of anthocyanin shows 

 a close and definite relation between the blue, the violet, and the red pigment, 

 all these representing the anthocyanin glucosid, but depending respectively upon 

 whether this assumes the form of a free acid, such an acid combined with 

 potassium, or occurs in connection with a plant acid. Since each of these forms 



