BOTANY. 379 



The autlior treated seed potatoes with a solution of corrosive subli- 

 mate, 2 oz. in 15 g-al. of water, and the resulting cro]) gave 90 to 95 per 

 cent free from s(!al), as compared with 55 to 70 per cent from untreated 

 seed. 



On correlation of the gro-wth of roots and shoots. Tj. Kny {Ann. 

 Bot., S {ISIU), No. .97, pp. 3G5-2S()). — The author in a i>aper read before 

 Section D of the British Associatio ii at its meeting at Oxford, August 

 11, 1894, considered the question raise d by Yoechting ^ whether there 

 does not exist a relation of symmetry between root and bud, such that 

 when the development of one is prevented the other will not take place. 

 Facts of horticultural experience, especially the culture of dwarf trees in 

 pots, tend to support this view, but on the other hand there are many 

 facts which tend to prove that the different members of the plant body 

 do not always develop at the same rate. Numerous instances are given 

 in which the morphological equilibrium between root and shoot is dis- 

 turbed, but these are exceptions. The normal cases are those of chlo- 

 rophyll terrestrial plants in which the subaerial and subterranean parts 

 are developed in due proportion, and it is in reference to these that the 

 following questions suggest themselves: (1) Does there exist between 

 the roots and shoots of a seedling such a correlation that the removal of 

 one part inhibits the development of the other, or does the growth of 

 one part stand in no relation whatever to that of the other in the 

 developing seedling? (2) What is the limit to which the development 

 of the shoots and roots of seedlings will proceed after the continual 

 removal of the other part? (.'>) Are the phenomena of this kind which 

 can be observed on isolated parts of adult plants different from those 

 which are manifested by seedlings? 



The author conducted ex])eriments with seedlings of Zea mays and 

 Vicia f aba iind cnttinga ot\Salix acuminata, and S.pxrpnrea. The Zca 

 mays seedlings were grown best on dam]) plates of burnt clay. In the 

 case of Viciafaba one cotyledon rested on moist sand, so that the tap- 

 root grew over the edge of the dish into the damp air. The Salix cut- 

 tings were grown in water and so suspended that about half the cutting 

 was submerged. In all cases, as far as possible, the seedlings were 

 compelled to grow in moist air and were not given moisture sufficient to 

 be absorbed directly in liquid form. 



The ])lants were grown in o series, those of the lirst series being 

 normal seedlings in Avhich plumule and radicle could develop un- 

 hindered. In those of the second series were placed seedlings in which 

 the plumule had been removed and in the third series the radicle was 

 removed. Plants were inspected from time to time and measurements 

 and weights taken. At the conclusion of all the experiments it was 

 ascertained that starch was still abundantly present in the endosperm 

 or the cotyledons, as the case may be, so that the seedling was still 

 provided with plastic material for further growth. The following table 



' Ueber Ors^anbilduiig im Pflanzenreiche, 1, p. 51, 1878. 



