AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 525 



in. in diameter. The colox-ation indicated a greater flow downward than up the 

 stem. It was thought that a large part of the water first absorbed might have 

 traveled in this direction either in bringing the wood up to full saturation or 

 else in escaping through the roots into the soil un'der gravity, or both. 



The author concludes that the experiment affords no decisive answer to the 

 question whether the lifting forces operative are derived solely from the suc- 

 tion of the leaves or are partly the result of agencies acting in the stem along 

 the path of the transpiration current. 



The relation between evaporation of water and the weig'ht of veg'etable 

 matter elaborated by maize, MaziS (Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], 156 

 {1913), No. 9, pp. 720-722) .—The author gives in tabular form the results of his 

 experiments with maize, claiming that the quantity of water evaporated thereby 

 per kilogram of vegetable dry matter is approximately constant and is inde- 

 pendent of the nature and concentration of the nutritive solution, as well as 

 the plant's state of development, being about 133 kg. per kilogram of vegetable 

 di"y matter. 



The influence of oil reserves of seeds and of temperature on the res- 

 piration coefficient, S. L. Ivanov {Zhur. Opytn. Agron. (Russ. Jour. Expt. 

 Laiidw.), 14 {191S), No. 2, pp. 75-87, figs. 2).— Experimentation with sprouting 

 seeds rich in oil is considered to show that temperature exerts considerable 

 influence upon the coefficient of respiration. It is held that at lowered tempera- 

 tures metabolic changes occur of a kind different from those usual to the plant, 

 not necessarily involving the production of carbon dioxid. The respiration 

 coefficient is said to depend partly upon external conditions and upon the 

 nature of the plant and not to be constant for any group with oil-containing 

 seeds. 



Concerning the character of the anaerobic respiration of different seed 

 plants, S. KosTTTSCHEW (Ber. Deut. Bot. Gesell., 31 {1913), No. 3, pp. 125- 

 129). — In continuation of previous work (E. S. R., 26, p. 627) the author, 

 claiming other origin than the action of enzyms for a part of the carbon dioxid 

 evolved in certain experiments, carried out investigations employing leaves, 

 roots, tubers, and fruits of several common plants. 



The results are claimed to support the view that in the majority of cases 

 the anaerobic respiration of seed plants is not simply identical with enzymic 

 fermentation alone. It is believed that further investigation of the nature of 

 anaerobic respiration of plants is likely to extend our conception of respiration, 

 and that in the majority of cases fermentation and other related decompositions 

 occur simultaneously. 



The pentosans in the germination of seed, L. B. Beenaedini and F. Gal- 

 Lucio {Staz. Sper. Agr. Ital., 1,5 {1912), No. 11, pp. 874-88// ) .—The authors 

 report that wheat grains germinating in darkness show a gradual and those in 

 light a more positive, but still slight, increase in pentosan content. The cellu- 

 lose content Is said to show in darkness first a gradual increase but later a 

 decided decrease, while in light a substantial increase is noted in the successive 

 stages of the germination process. The possible bearings of these facts are also 

 discussed. 



The catalytic action of light in the germination of seeds sensitive to light, 

 E. Lehmann and A. Ottenwajldee {ZtscJir. Bot., 5 {1913). No. 5, pp. 337-364). — 

 To brief notice of the related work of others previously published, the authors 

 add the results of their own studies carried out with Verhascum thapsiforme, 

 EpilolHum hirsutum, and Lythrum. salicaria, leading to the conclusion that the 

 proteolytic enzyms cause or favor germination in darkness of seeds normally 

 requiring light for that process. A bibliography is appended. 



