BOTANY. 1 1 1 



latinii and iMiis<iiiiiiir arc very iiitiiiiatfly n-latiMl, and in tin- aiitliors' exiwriniciits it 

 was found that copiier and (•(>l)alt stimulated ^Towtli very a|>|>r('cial)ly, and horon, 

 lead, and tungsten exerted a stiinulatinjj inflnt'nce in indivi<lual cases. Tiie subject 

 of (;lieniical stinmlants is said to be one for further study. A list of about .{(I impor- 

 tant works relating to this sul)ject is given. 



The effect of mechanical shock on long-itudinal growth of plant organs, 

 J. P.. I'oi.t.ock; (AI)s. ill Sciiiio', n. .sr/-., /./ {lU(il), X<i. .i.'O, p. ,.':'>1). — Studies were 

 made of the hypha' of riiyeomyces, hypocotyls of Jirassica, radish, sunflower, luinne, 

 and gourd, the epicotyl of beans, and the leaf sheath and first leaves of oats and 

 wheat. Single shocks given by pressure upon the mycelium of the fungus showed 

 that there wan a retardation, followed by a recovery in from 5 to 30 minutes, after 

 which the growth was frequently faster than at first. In the larger ]tlants bending 

 was followeil by rapid elongation, after whicth growth was retardeil for a short time, 

 and ujMin the resumption of the functions of tlie j)lant the rate of growth was some- 

 times greater and sometimes less than at first. The effect of continuous shock npon 

 plants was investigated by means oi a form of apparatus which kept the plants sway- 

 ing from side to side. The resnlts obtained were decisive otdy in the case of experi- 

 ments with gourds, which showed a decided acceleration due to the swaying. With 

 the other plants the results were variable, but as a whole gave evidences of acceU-ra- 

 tion where the swaying was not too vigorous. 



The effect of annular decortication of herbaceous plants, L. Daniei, {('oinpt. 

 Rend. Annl. ,Scl. rarlx, ISl {1900), No. 26, pp. 1 £5.3-1255). —The effect of removing 

 a portion of the bark from annual plants was investigated by the author, the sub- 

 jects of the experiments being different species of crucifers, eggi)lant, and tomatoes. 

 In the c^se of the crucifers experimented with, the ringing of the stems was gener- 

 ally followed by a wilting and final death of the lower leaves. When in a moist 

 medium the plant was severely injured. If in a drier medium the wound wa.s 

 healed over to some extent. The heads produced by the different varieties of cab- 

 bage, Brussels sprouts, etc., were considerably smaller than in the check plants. In 

 the experiments with eggplants and tomatoes there was a marked increase in the 

 size of the fruit following the annular ringing of the plant. While there was inerea.'se 

 in size of the solanaeeous fruits, there was a corresponding decrease in their flavor. 

 It is thought probal)le that the marked effect shown in these plants would prol)ably 

 be shown in other annual plants which furnish edible fruits. 



Notes upon albinism in s^veet corn, B. I). Halsted [Ahx. in. Science, n. ser., 13 

 {luoi), X<>. .^20, p. 247). — The author reports a complete albinism in a cross between 

 black Mexican and Egyptian sweet corns. The albinos were produced in about 

 equal numbers from the white, pink, and purple grains resulting from the crosses, 

 and in some instances about 15 per cent of the plants were white. The albino plants 

 possessed normal vigor and in every way resembled the types, except in the lack of 

 a capacity to produce chlorophyll. After about 2 weeks' growth the plants began to 

 weaken, and perished within a short time. In the dark they grew like normal 

 plants, except no etiolin was jiroduced. The grain i)roduced by overl)urdened plants' 

 seemed more liable to produ(;e albinos than that from stalks which bore a single ear. 

 The al]>inism is believed to have been due to incomplete fecundation, and the fact 

 that the plants were close bred may have had an effect upon the progeny. 



Lioss of vigor in corn from inbreeding, H. J. Webbek {Abs. in Science, n. .^er., 

 l-i {1901), No. 820, pp. 257, 258). — The effect of inbreeding corn with pollen from 

 the same stalk is shown by a number of examples. One hundred stalks of Hickory 

 King corn grown from seed inbred with pollen from the same stalk yieliled 46 ears, 

 weighing 9..'^ lbs., while seeds of tlie same race produced ])y crossing different seed- 

 lings yielded, from the same numljer of stalks, 82 ears, weighing 270 lbs. In attempt- 

 ing to fix hybrids of Hickory King and ("uzco, a number of eai-s were ird)red with 

 pollen from the stalks bearing them, while others were fertilized with pollen from 



