BOTANY. 27 



Rye grass was seeded November 13, under the same conditions, and 

 the g-erminations began as follows: Under white glass December 5, 

 red December 7, green December S, blue December 15. All plants 

 under the blue glass soon perished. The root development was noticed 

 to be particularly affected by the ditit'erent kinds ol light, none develop- 

 ing under the blue glass, and but feebly under either the red or green. 



In conclusion it is stated that "for plants from the seed the growth 

 will be in the following order: White, red, green, blue. But the effect 

 exerted after germination is in the order, red, green, white, and blue, 

 or red, white, green, blue, depending on whether height or vegetative 

 phenomena are considered." 



It was further found tliat plants placed under bell jars colored with 

 mono chromatic solutions gave abnormally colored flowers, and that 

 apples, peaches, cherries, strawberries, when placed under colored bell 

 jars to ripen, remained blanched, and when mature were very watery 

 and lacking in flavor. 



Formation and assimilation of asparagin, O. Loew {Chem. Ztg., 

 20 {1890), ^'o. JO, pp. 14o-147; ahs. in Jour. lioy. Micros. Soc, 1896, Xo. 

 3, p. 330). — Asparagin is shown to be very often the result of splitting 

 up of the proteids into asparagin and carbon dioxid. In other cases, as 

 in the sugar of ripe beet roots, asparagin is a synthetic product and 

 may be formed out of ammonia or nitric acid; this takes place in barley 

 and maize. Sugar or some substitute is essential for the transforma- 

 tion of asparagin into i^roteids. This may take place in the dark and 

 the sugar need not be formed in the same cells as the asparagin. 



On the occurrence of nitrates in germinating plants, E. Schulze 

 {Ztschr. pliyHiol. Chem., 22 {1890), No. 1, pp. 82-89).~lii 1885 the author 

 published ' an account of the presence of nitrate of potash in etiolated 

 seedlings of CHcHrhita pepo. In the experiments the seeds had been 

 grown on sand, but when the sand had been thoroughly washed with 

 distilled water there was a marked falling oft' in the nitrogen content 

 of the seedlings. In 2 cases there was 0.G14 per cent nitrate of potash 

 in the dry matter of the seedlings, while in 2 others at the end of 2 

 weeks there was but a trace present. Experiments with Luplnus luteus 

 seed gave similar results. When the cucurbit seed were grown upon 

 gauze in distilled water there were no nitrates present in the seedlings 

 at the expiration of II days, although glutamin and tyrosin were pres- 

 ent. Negative results were obtained with seed of Lupinvs a (bus, L. 

 anf/usti/olius, Vicia Hativa, Ricinus communis, and Zca mays. 



The author states that nitrates are not constantly present in seed- 

 lings, and that the claim of Belzuug^ that amids are supplied through 

 th«; nitrates is incorrect. 



Nitrogen assimilation in the cotton plant, C. E. Coates and 

 W. R. DoDSON {Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 18 {1896), No. 5, pp. 125-428).— A 



1 Jour, prakt. Chem., 32 (1885), p. 451. 



2 Ann.sci.uat. Dot., scr. 7, 15 (1892), p. 249. 

 4256— No. 1 3 



