334 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.35 



substances, including carbohydrates, fats, and both proteid and nonproteid 

 nitrogenous materials, furnishing thus a greater amount of nutritive matter 

 in the latter part of the day. 



Plant enzyms. — IV, Invertase of potato leaves, G. Doby {Biochem. Ztschr., 

 11 {1915), No. 6, pp. 495-500). — Continuing previoiis work (E. S. R., 34, p. 428), 

 the author has studied the activity of the enzyms obtained from comminuted 

 potato leaves as found in their expressed juices. 



The activity of the enzyms contained in the juices as obtained by hand 

 pressure diminished sensibly after the material had been kept for 24 hours. 

 Those obtained by pressures of 100 and 300 atmospheres showed successively 

 lessened euzym activity. It is considered probable that the decreased activity 

 is due partly to a diminution of the enzyms in the juices obtained at higher 

 pressure, but also perhaps to a rapid breaking down of the enzyms themselves. 



A note on the occurrence of urease in legume nodules and other plant 

 parts, M. S. Benjamin (Jour, and Proc. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, 49 {1915), pt. 1, 

 pp. 18-80). — The author states that, having detected the presence of an enzym 

 capable of splitting urea in the nodules of Trifolium agrarium, T. minus, Pisum 

 arvense, Vicia dosciacarpus, Y. sativa, Glycine clandestina, Acacia decurrens, 

 A. falcata, A. juniperina, A. linearis, A. lunata, A. pum'ila, A. suaveolens, 

 Aotus villosa, Daviesia genistifolia, Lathynis latifolius, and Cytisus proliferus, 

 but not in those of Medicago sativa, M. denticulata, M. maculata, or Trifolium 

 repens, he has extended his study to other parts of plants. A reaction for 

 the presence of the enzym was given by seeds of Cucumis melo, Cucurbita 

 moschata, and Ahrus precatorius. Other plant parts giving a reaction for 

 urease were the ovules and pollen of a Hippeastrum, the tubercles, rootlets, 

 and bulbs of Macrozamia spiralis, and the dried, immature leaves of a Wistaria. 

 The reaction proper to the enzym was obtained from a red and a green alga, 

 and it was particularly pronounced and rapid in case of the lichens Ramulina 

 yemensis, Xanthoria parietina, and TJsnea harhata. 



Although no conclusions are drawn as to the part played by this enzym in 

 the economy of plants, the fact that it has been detected in parts in which 

 symbiosis occurs and in other parts in which active metabolic changes are 

 doubtless in progress, as in pollen, ovules, young leaves, etc., suggests some 

 con-elation between its presence and the processes of elaboration and inter- 

 change of nutritive material which must be constantly occurring in the living 

 plant. 



A new nitrite-forming organism, N. V. Joshi {Mem. Dept. Agr. India, Bact. 

 Ser., 1 {1915), No. 3, pp. 85-96, pis. 2, fig. i),— An account is given of the dis- 

 covery and study of a nitrite-forming organism, with an outline of its reactions 

 to temperature, chemical agents, and nutrient preparations. 



The influence of ultraviolet rays on reproductive organs of plants, L. 

 MoNTKMAKTiNi {AtU Ist. Bot. R. Univ. Pavia, 2. ser., 9 {1911), pp. 13-23). — In 

 these experiments, carried out with several plants named, the author was not 

 able to discover any specific action of ultraviolet rays on the reproductive 

 organs of the plants tested. 



FIELD CROPS. 



Experiments on the influence of selection, C. Feuwirth {Ztschr. Pflanzen- 

 zucht., 3 {1915), No8. 2, p. 173; 4, pp. 395-451, figs. 5).— The experiments 

 here described were conducted with white mustard {Sitiapis alba), oats, and 

 certain leguminous plants. 



The results obtained with six Johannsen lines of white mustard, producing 

 yellow and brown seeds and sometimes both kinds on the same plant, showed 



