246 NATURAL SCIENCE. April. 



in calcined and washed sand. Moreover, for some plants, he does 

 not say which, it is a "veritable manure"; when watered with 

 a solution they were finer and more vigorous, and flowered better 

 and more quickly than under normal conditions. 



In 1887, however, M. A. Marcacci, in his " L'azione degli 

 Alcaloidi nel regno vegetale et animale," asserts that atropin has an 

 injurious effect on germination. 



M. de Varigny has made an extensive series of experiments, 

 growing his plants either on washed and heated sand or cotton-wool, 

 and using solutions of the sulphate of atropin of various strengths, 

 from jig- to I per cent. Seeds of a considerable number of species were 

 tried, wheat, barley, oats, and other grasses, cress, lettuce, radish, 

 turnip, buckwheat, and others. In every case the experiments 

 were checked by growing the seeds under conditions in every way 

 similar, but without the alkaloid. As a result, he found that almost 

 invariably there was certainly no advantage in the presence of 

 atropin. For instance, several experiments were made with Indian 

 cress, and in almost all the weight of the crop in the control 

 experiment exceeded that in the others, and the greater the propor- 

 tion of atropin the smaller the crop. This was equally well marked 

 with wheat. Out of 75 seeds sown in each case, 64 germinated in 

 the control experiment, 39 in the i per cent, solution of the salt 

 of atropin, and 41 in the ^^. In some cases, such as the beet, 

 cabbage, lentil, buckwheat, and pea, the alkaloid had apparently 

 no effect, germination and growth being almost the same in the two 

 series of culture, while in the carrot and lettuce it certainly seemed 

 favourable to growth, but M. Varigny thinks the experiments with 

 these species must be repeated more frequently before arriving at 

 any definite conclusion. 



On the other hand, it is quite clear that there are a number of 

 species whose germination and growth is retarded, or even stopped 

 by the drug. 



Jade in Upper Burmah. 



Dr. Noetling, of the Indian Geological Survey, has issued an 

 interesting report on jade in Upper Burmah. Speaking of the geology 

 of jade, he says that two facts are now established — one, that jade is 

 found in association with and enclosed in an eruptive rock closely 

 resembling serpentine ; the other, that this serpentine pierces strata 

 of perhaps lower, but more probably of upper Miocene date. He 

 observes that it is now proved that the jade found in Burmah belongs 

 to a group of eruptive rocks of late Tertiary age, and as it is intimately 

 connected with serpentine, it is probal)le that it will be found at other 

 places where the latter occurs, when once the outer shell of the 

 serpentine has been pierced. Formerly it was extracted only in the 

 Uru Valley, where it was found in boulders in the allu\ial deposits 



