NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 



311 



luminous to enable him to read his watch by their light ! On exami- 

 nation, his butcher owned that he first observed it in the recess in 

 which he stored the '■ debris destines aux saucisses." Shortly afterwards 

 all his meat became phosphorescent, and even fresh meat brought 

 from a distance to his shop was similarly affected. The moment the 

 meat began to give indications of losing its freshness, the phospho- 

 rescence disappeared, and Bacterium termo became visible on exami- 

 nation ; cooked meat did not put on this appearance, but cooked 

 albumen and potatoes did become phosphorescent, and starch paste 

 became of an orange colour in the presence of this phosi)horescent 

 meat; the hands, if rubbed over it, remained phosphorescent for 

 several hours. It is reported that under the Microscope bacteria 

 were observed, and that, in tlie dark, examination under the Microscope 

 revealed a number of luminous points. In this strange history there 

 are two satisfactory points ; the one is that the meat did not diS'er in 

 smell from ordinary meat, and the other is that we are promised 

 fuller details. 



Thuret and Bornet's ' Phycological Studies.'— This magnificent 

 work surpasses anything which has ever been published relating to 

 Algfe. It comprises fifty-one folio engravings by Picart from drawings 

 of Bornet and Eiocreux. Most of the plates were prepared under 

 Thuret's direction between the years 1846 and 1856, and several 

 appeared in a reduced form in the ' Annales des Sciences Naturelles ' 

 of 1851, as illustrations of his article, ' Eecherches sur les Zoospores 

 des Algues.' It was Thuret's intention to publish an atlas of fifty 

 plates, but, at the time of his premature death, ten of the plates had 

 not been engraved. These were finished under the direction of his 

 friend and co-worker. Dr. Bornet. Never before have the Algse been 

 so exquisitely delineated, whether microscopically or in gross. The 

 life-size figure of Fiicus plati/cat^nis is perfection itself. The text is 

 principally by Dr. Bornet, who has inserted when possible the notes 

 and descriptions of Thuret himself. No apology, however, was neces- 

 sary on the part of the former ; for not only was he the constant 

 companion of Thuret, but his style of writing very closely resembles 

 that of his lamented associate. The text modestly purports to be 

 simply a description of the plates. It is, however, much niore ; it is 

 a very elaborate exposition of the structure and reproduction of the 

 different groups of Algas. The principal part of the observations on 

 the Fucaceae have already appeared in the ' Annales.' _ The part 

 relating to the Phaeosporefe is very clearly presented, and is the most 

 complete account of the order yet published. The fertilization of 

 Polyides rotundus resembles that of Dudresnaya in the growth of a 

 number of filaments from the base of the trichogyne. The account 

 of the reproduction in the Corallinese throws a new light on the 

 structure of that order, and for the first time a detailed account is 

 given of the antheridia and cystocorpic spores.* 



Relation of Lichens to Algae and Fungi. — The theory of 

 Schwendeuer, that lichens are not independent organisms, but consist 



* 'Am. Jouni. Sci. and Artt-,' xvii. (1879) 256. 



