734 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.36' 



lower in swamp plants. Osmotic pressure in the leaves is frequently higher 

 than that in the roots and is not always correlated with the latter, but is deter- 

 mined by conditions of humidity. 



Transpiration and assimilation in steppe plants, V. S. Il'in (Iljin) {Izv. 

 Imp. Akad. Nauk {Bui. Acad. Imp. Sci. Petrograd), 6. ser., 9 (1915), A'o. 4. PP- 

 346-367, fig. 1). — The rates of transpiration and assimilation and their rela- 

 tionship in various prairie plants were studied and determined. Absolute quan- 

 tities obtained at a given time and for a given amount of material were reduced 

 to one hour per 1 gm. of dry weight and the amount of water which plants 

 transpire for each cubic centimeter of decomposed carbon dioxid was calcu- 

 lated. 



The results of 15 experiments were identical. They show that the plants 

 adapted to a dry habitat are capable of a better usage of moisture and lose less 

 water per unit of decomposed carbon dioxid than is the case with mesophytes. 

 The mesophytes are uneconomical in the use of water and are compelled to 

 close the stomata in order to lessen transpiration, thus considerably reducing 

 or even completely checking assimilation, while in xerophytes under the same 

 conditions these processes are going on at a normal rate, Mesophytes, how- 

 ever, under their normal moisture conditions, quite often lose less water than 

 do xerophytes in their natural habitat, although the rate of transpiration of 

 the former would rise to a high degree if they were transferred to the condi- 

 tions normal for xerophytes. 



With regard to water requirements and the ability to withstand drought, the 

 author puts the steppe plants studied in the following order : Stipa capillata, 

 Centaurea sibiricu, Phloniis pungens, Caragana frutescens, Centaurea orientalis, 

 and, possibly, Amy.gdalus nana, the first one being the most, and the last one 

 the least resistant. 



Teratological notes. — I, Abnormal seedlings, A. D. Hardy {Proc. Roy. Soc. 

 Victoria, n. ser., 28 (1916), No. 2, pp. 2JiO-244, P^- 1)- — IQ this and papers to 

 follow it is intended to record occurrences of interest to specialists in vegetable 

 teratology which the author has observed within the past few years. The 

 present paper discusses polycotyly, polyphylly, bifurcation of axis, cohesion of 

 cotyledons, and other abnormalities. In future papers his purpose is to deal 

 with heterotaxy and morphological deviations in foliage, etc., in older plants, 

 particularly with reference to indigenous flora. 



Identity of cohoba, the narcotic snuff of ancient Haiti, W. E. Sai"Foed 

 (Joiir. Wash. Acad. Sci., 6 {1916), No. 15, pp. 547-562, figs. 3).— The results are 

 given of a study of cohoba, a narcotic snuf¥ which the aborigines of Haiti in- 

 haled through a bifurcated tube for its intoxicating or hypnotic effects. The 

 snuff hitherto thought by many writers to be a form of tobacco was in reality 

 prepared from the seeds of the tree Piptadenia peregrina, resembling mimosa, 

 which is widespread in South America and elsewhere. The intoxicating prin- 

 ciple is at present unknown. 



A fungus producing hydrocyanic acid and benzoic aldehyde, H. Guyot 

 {[TravS\ Inst. Bot. Univ. Geneve, 9. ser.. No. 3 {1915), pp. 22-24, fl9- i).— A 

 fungus, supposed to be a new speces of Mucor, has been studied on different 

 substrata. It produces considerable amounts of benzoic aldehyde and of hydro- 

 cyanic acid. 



FIELD CROPS, 



Report of division of farm crops, V, M. Shoesmith and F, A. Spkagg {Michi- 

 gan Sta. Rpt., 1916, pp. 285-292). — Rotation and fertilizer experiments that 

 have been iu progress for the 5-year period 1911-1915 are briefly reported. 



