AGRICTTLTURE AT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION". 529 



is said to li!i\(' cxtructod a di<;'('s(i\(' lliiid from (lie pitclicrs of -S'. piir- 

 piina^ tho fcnuciit Ixmmo- an acti\(' dio-estor of lihriu. 



The rate of u^()^\■tll as ati'ected by lio-ht and darkness was the subject 

 of a paper by O. T. MacDougal, a xevy brief sunuuary of which was 

 presented. In siil)stance the autlior reported tluit the average rate of 

 grow til is no h>ss in tlie light tiian in darkness, nor does the average 

 rate of elong:ation materially dili'er. 



B. M. Duggar presentt^d a })a])ei' onThe Nutrition of Certain Edible 

 Basidioniycetes, in which Hrefeld's work was reviewed, as well as that 

 pu])lished in Bulletin 16 of the Bureau of Plant Industry. The author 

 has beeji successful in growing these fungi through several generations 

 by the addition of basic salts, also when fragments of the fungus were 

 added to the culture media. It w^as found in practice that bits of 

 tissue instead of spores gave excellent results when grown in pure 

 cultures. When the fungus is not an obligate parasite any basidiomy- 

 cete may be grown in this yvay. 



The same speaker described The Toxic Eti'ects of Some Nutrient 

 Salts on Certain Marine Algte. The experiments on which this work 

 is based were conducted at the Marine Zoological Laboratory, Naples, 

 and at Woods Hole. Ordinary sea water is said to contain about 3.(S6 

 per cent of total salts. By varying the amount of the different salts 

 it was possible to determine the toxic effect of different compounds. 

 These were presented in gram-molecule solutions, and it is believed 

 that the action is molecular rather than attributable to ions. The 

 magnesium salts wei'e found to be the least toxic of all, while the 

 ammonium salts occupied a high position among the toxic elements. 



The Decrease in Vitalit}- of Grain by Age was the subject of a paper 

 by William Saunders. Twelve samples of seeds grown in 1897 were 

 stored in an office building at ordinary room temperatures, and sub- 

 jected to germination tests each year from 1898 to 1902. The samples 

 included 3 varieties of wheat, 3 of oats, 2 of barley, 2 of peas, and 1 of 

 flax. The average percentages of germination for the five years were 

 as follows: Wheat, 80, 82.3, 77.3, 37.3, and 15; oats, 90.2, 93, 78.2, 

 67, and 54; barley, 97, 91, 78.5, 36, and 19.5; peas, 94, 95, 88, 64, and 

 64; and flax, 81, 82, 75, 49, and 26. The results show that the seeds 

 germinated as well the second year as the first, that a slight decrease 

 in germination occurred during the third 3'ear, and a great decrease 

 during the fourth 3'ear. 



The Introduction of the Banana into Prehistoric America was dis- 

 cussed by O. F. Cook before the Anthropological Association. 



' H. C. Cowles traced the physical and ecological resemblances 

 between the sand dune formations of Cape Cod and Lake Michigan. 

 Certain peculiarities of the flora of each region were pointed out, the 

 ocean side of Cape Cod not showing any zonal arrangement of plants. 

 The conditions of Cape Cod are said to be less xerophytic than usually 



