NOTES ON THE GENUS BALANSIA. 6/3 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE AND TEXT FIGURES. 



Plate 25. — Shoot of abnormal grass {Cynodon dactyl on), showing 



deformed inflorescence at tip, s/clerotia, and imperfectly 



developed leaves. 

 Fig. I. — Cross section through a sclerotium, showing fruiting stromata, 



perithecia, cavities in fungal mass and embedded leaves of 



host. 

 Fig. 2. — Perithecia, with ripening asci. 

 Fig- 3 a. — A single ascus, showing cap " cell," and tapering at base. 



b. — A single filiform ascospore. 

 Fig. 4. — Germinating ascospores, showing germ tubes being pushed out. 



Botanical Laboratories, 



Union Department of Agriculture, 

 Pretoria. 



Paper from Sugar-cane Leaves. — An invention 



has been patented in Japan for manufacturing pulp for paper- 

 making from sugar-cane leaves. The leaves are chopped up and 

 cleaned by air, boiled with caustic soda and lime for four hours, 

 washed in a special vat, and beaten in a beating- machine. The 

 fibres are next bleached for four hours by means of chloride of 

 lime and sulphuric acid, being meanwhile steamed at a temperature 

 of 75° to 80° C. The bleached fibre is rinsed with water in an 

 oscillating strainer, and is then sized and transferred to a mill- 

 board machine. 



Smoke Screens. — G. A. Richter, in the Proceedings of 

 the American Electrochemical Soci(^ty^ says that when smoke 

 screens were found to be necessary for the purposes of the 

 American fighting forces, a smoke having satisfactory obscuring 

 power was produced by the action of ammonia vapour on hydro- 

 chloric acid gas, but the difficulty of handling large quantities 

 of hydrochloric acid led to advantage being taken of the pro- 

 perty of silicon tetrachloride to hydrolyse readily, forming 

 hydrochloric acid. The tetrachloride, if suddenly dispersed by 

 means of an explosive charge, produces a large cloud, the inten- 

 sity of which is increased in the presence of ammonia. The 

 conditions necessary for maximum obscuring power are — (i) 

 The tetrachloride and ammonia must be sprayed into the air in 

 a finely atomised state; (2) both ingredients must be greatly 

 diluted with air before they are allowed to mix; (3) there must 

 be enough moisture in the air to hydrolyse the tetrachloride com- 

 pletely before it mixes with the ammonia. 



