928 EXPERIMENT STATION KECORD. 



the collection of plants and the necessity for the inspection of all collections in 

 order that noxious weeds, injurious insects, and fungus parasites may not be intro- 

 duced is stated. 



Annual report of the botanist of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture, 

 C. E. Bessey {Nebraska State Bd. Agr. Rpt. 1897, pp. 107-140).— Notes are given on 

 the collection of grass exhibited at the State Fair in 1897, in which 21 collections, 

 numbering 1,501 specimens, were shown. Notes are given on the botanical regions 

 and districts of Nebraska and the forage problems of the different parts of the State 

 are discussed. 



Gram, chick-pea, or Idaho pea, J. G. Smith ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Division of Agros- 

 tology Circ. 7, pp. 4, fig. 1).— A description of this plant (Cicer arietinum), together 

 with notes on its uses and cultivation. Although recently reported as a new forage 

 plant native to the Rocky Mountains, this plant has been known for centuries in the 

 Orient. Its value as a soil renovator and for feeding purposes is shown. It is stated 

 that the leaves possess deleterious qualities, and the forage is said to be poisonous 

 to horses on account of the excess of oxalic acid. Cattle are also injured to some 

 extent, although less than horses. The plant, however, is not ordinarily grown as a 

 forage crop, but for the seeds alone. 



Thirty poisonous plants of the United States, V. K. Chesnut ( U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Farmers' Bui. 86, pp. 32, figs. 24).— This is a popular edition of Bulletin No. 20 

 of the Division of Botany (E. S. R., 10, p. 516). In the present publication several of 

 the less poisonous plants have been stricken out and a small amount of new matter 

 added. The plants described are fly amanita, death cup, American false hellebore, 

 pokeweed, corn cockle, dwarf larkspur, Wyoming larkspur, purple larkspur, black 

 cherry, woolly loco weed, stemless loco weed, rattlebox, caper spurge, snow on the 

 mountain, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, red buckeye, water hemlock, Oregon 

 water hemlock, poison hemlock, broad-leaf laurel, narrow-leaf laurel, great laurel,, 

 staggerbush, branch ivy, jimson weed, black nightshade, bittersweet, and sneezeweed. 



Some native fodder plants, J. H. Maiden ( Agr. Gaz, New South Wales, 10 (1S99), 

 No. 1, p. 37). — Tribiilus hystrix, Swainsona campylantha, A^scliynomene indica, Butidosis 

 helichrysoides, Codonovarpus austraUs, and Croton verreauxii are all mentioned as being 

 valuable for forage in various parts of Australia. 



An unusual phyto-bezoar, W. Trelease (Fharm. Rev., 16 (189S), No. 2, pp. 66-70, 

 pl % ^) # — Two balls composed of trichomes from cacti are described. They were taken 

 from the stomach of a bull and were 3i and 4 in. in diameter, 16 of them having been 

 found in the animal. 



A contribution to the physiology of roots, A. Rimbach (Ber. Deut. Bot. Gesell., 

 17 (1899), No. 1, pp. 18-35, pi. 1).— Studies are reported on the function of roots, the 

 author classifying them as nourishing, adventitious, supporting, and storage roots. 



On the decomposition of protein during germination, Prianischnikow (Bot. 

 Centbl., 77 (1899), No. 8-4, p. 107).— -In a brief abstract the author states that experi- 

 ments with a number of legumes in which' the rapidity of the decomposition of 

 protein was measured showed that the curves of decomposition and respiration are 

 quite similar, although tho first runs higher, the carbon dioxid falling off. The 

 accumulation of asparagin is said to also trace a similar curve, but it ultimately goes 

 higher than the decomposition curve. 



On the reformation of proteids from the products of metabolism, Prianisch- 

 nikow (Bot. Centbl, 77 (1899), No. 3-4, p. 108).— Some 2 or 3 weeks after the split- 

 ting up of the protein iu germinating seeds the formation of the protein is resumed, 

 the asparagin and other amido compounds being utilized. 



The influence of light upon the synthetic processes in green plants, W. Pal- 

 ladin (Bot. Centbl., 77 (1899), No. 2, pp. 60, 61).— Etiolated seedlings of Ficiafaba, 

 which were small and yellow and contained little protein and no carbon dioxid or 

 starch, were grown in solutions containing 10 per cent of cane sugar, which was 

 utilized as starch. It was possible to observe the effect of light upon such plants. 

 The intensity of respiration was more than twice as great in the light as in the dark- 



