244 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. [Vol.35 



common fungus diseases, also with sucli matters as the presence of insect pests, 

 the nature of the soil, and local control methods and practices. Conditions are 

 detailed as said to exist on a number of farms. 



Conditions of plant life in the Selby smoke zone, January 1 to July 1, 

 1914, J. W. Blankinship {U. S. Dept. Int., Bur. Mines Bui. 98 (1915), pp. 

 3S1-S97, pis. 4, fiff- 1 ) • — It is stated that as a rule three kinds of injury to plants 

 may be produced by emanations from smelters, namely, flue dust injury, due 

 to the absorption of poisons from the soil by the roots ; acid spot injury to stems, 

 foliage, and fruit, caused by drops of sulphuric acid, usually condensed about 

 small particles of flue dust ; and sulphur dioxid injury to foliage, or more 

 rarely to stems or floral parts, due to absorption through the respiratory system, 

 or in some instances through the epidermal cells. The conditions for the sul- 

 phur dioxid injury, the form most usual in this connection, are more favorable 

 in moist than in dry weather. 



The parasitism of seeds and its importance in general biology, V. Galippb 

 (Com.pt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], 161 (1915), No. 5, pp. 112-119).— In this 

 report, with which some discussion is also given, it Is claimed that the study 

 of a number of flowers has shown the presence ef parasites in the anther, 

 pollen, and stigma, also in the style and ovary, of a considerable proportion of 

 those examined. It is thought that the facts as noted may bear a relation to 

 anomalies of germination percentages and of other kinds. 



Crown gall studies showing changes in plant structures due to a changed 

 stimulus, E. F. Smith (U. 8. Dept. Agr., Jour. Agr. Research, 6 (1916), No. Jf, 

 pp. 179-182, pis. 6). — A prelimiuai-y account is given of recent experiments with 

 crown gall in which the author describes the effect of inoculation into the 

 cambium, the fundamental tissue of young stems, the leaf axils of gi'owing 

 plants, and into loaf tissue. 



As a result of his investigations the author is led to the conclusion that 

 the immature cell, wherever it is located, carries the inheritance of the whole 

 organism, and that what it will finally become, as it matui*es, is dependent 

 upon the stimuli withheld from it or applied to it. In other words, the stimulus 

 may be either physiological, resulting in a normal structure, or pathological, 

 resulting in an emljryonic teratoma, as when a tumor-producing schizomycete is 

 introduced into sensitive growing tissues. 



Horsehair blights, T. Fetch (Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Peradeniya, 6 (1915), 

 No. 1, pp. Jf3-68, pis. 6). — Discussion is given of the characters and habits of 

 Marnsmius equicrinis, growing only on dead tissues ; M. obscuratus, apparently 

 also saprophytic; a new species described as M. coronatus, not known to be 

 parasitic; and some imdetermined species. A fungus which has been con- 

 sidered provisionally as a fructification of an undetermined horsehair blight 

 is described as Xylaria vagans n. sp. 



The effect of the host on the morphology of certain species of Gymnospo- 

 rangium, B. O. Dodge (Bui. Torrey Bot. Club, 1,2 (1915), No. 9, pp. 519-542, 

 pis. 2). — The author has begun a study of the relation of the particular host 

 to specific differences in the parasite in case of species of Gymnosporangium, 

 some results from which are tabulated and discussed. 



It is considered as possible that O. fraternum and O. biseptatuni may be two 

 distinct species which happen to have secidia much alike on Amelanchier. The 

 determination of the infection limits of these two species so far as it has been 

 accomplished has raised the questions whether O. fraternum on Amelanchier 

 goes back to the cedar as O. fraternum, or as O. biseptatum, or as both, and 

 whether G. biseptatum, on Amelanchier goes back to the cedar and reappears 

 as O. biseptatum; or as G. fraternum, or as both of these forms. 



