26 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. f Vol. 38 



The author considers the conclusiou that permeability is chemical in its 

 nature to require for its establishment more evidence Ihan is at present avail- 

 able. 



A method for producing conductivity water suitable for water culture 

 experiments, R. B. Haetoy (Bot. Gaz., 63 {1017), No. 4, pp. 321, 322, fly. 1). — 

 The author describes an apparatus which he has devised, tested, and used with 

 success for the distillation of water free from the presence of metals, in 

 sufficiently large quantity for water culture experiments. The apparatus is 

 said to require but little attention beyond occasional cleaning and to produce 

 a constant stream of high resistance water containing only such materials as 

 may be taken up from glass of low solubility. 



Saccharose in beets: Its formation and distribution, H. Colin {Rev. G6n. 

 Bot., 28 {1916), Nos. 334, PP- 289-299; 335, pp. 321-328; 336, pp. 368-380; 29 

 {1917), Nos. 337, pp. 21-32; 338, pp. 56-64; 339, pp. 89-96; 340, pp. 113-127).— 

 Summarizing this extensive account of recent work and reviewing some 

 previously reported (E. S. R., 33, p. 235; 34, p. 524), along with the findings 

 and views of other workers, the author states that during the first year the 

 leaf of the sugar beet always contains a mixture of saccharose with glucose 

 and levulose, the latter of these two always predominating in the blade, the 

 former in the petiole, especially near its base. Saccharose appears quickly 

 in the leaf cells when exposed to light. It disappears in darkness after 

 changing to invert sugar under the influence of sucrase, which always abounds 

 in the leaf blade. The ratio of saccharose to reducing sugar decreases steadily 

 from blade to crown, so that in the vicinity of the root there is an excess of 

 reducing sugar, particularly glucose. Reducing sugar is always present, being 

 more abundant in the root, but the proportion differs somewhat vsdth the 

 varieties tested. 



During the second year of growth the sugar may under certain circum- 

 stances, as in darkness, again pass into the aerial portions, for example, migrat- 

 ing into the young stem as it becomes organized. Saccharose does not 

 hydrolyze in the stem. Reducing sugar remains sensibly constant in the tissues 

 so long as these remain intact. Saccharose leaves its place of storage in the 

 roots as such and passes upward, generally becoming inverted on contact with 

 the cells of the root, petioles, and leaf blades, the ratio of saccharose to reducing 

 sugar decreasing from the root to the top of the inflorescence. 



It is stated that the beet appears to be especially adapted to northern 

 climates, giving in Prussia and Holland a higher sugar content than in Italy 

 or Hungary. 



The differences between the kinds designated respectively as sugar beets 

 and forage beets, though considerable, are difficult to define precisely. The 

 phenomena of elaboration and accumulation of sugar appear to be essentially 

 the same In both these kinds of beet. 



The author states that the roots as well as the leaves possess individuality, 

 leaves of some very different varieties giving sensibly the same quantities 

 of reducing sugar and of saccharose. 



Humification of compounds entering into the composition of plants, A. G. 

 Trusov {Selsk. Khoz. i LQsov., 249 {1915), Nov., pp. 379-394). — Experiments 

 on the humification of lignin, cellulose, nuclein, glucose, starch, and tannin are 

 reported. 



It was found that with average humidity and a temperature of from 17 to 

 22° C, cellulose, hemicellulose, saccharose, glucose, levulose, gum, lignin, olive 

 oil, glycerin, organic acids, and probably starch are not transformed into humus 

 substances singly or in combination. On the other hand, albumin and tannin 

 are transformed into humus when decomposing separately and in combination 



