1907] ■ CURRENT LITERATURE 



73 



Respiration- — In accordance with the theory that in aerobic respiration 

 ox}^gen acts as a depolarizer/'* Packard finds^^ that when carbohydrates which 

 can be absorbed (e.g., maltose, glucose, fructose) are injected peritoneally into 

 Fundulus heterocUius the resistance to deprivation of oxygen is greatly increased; 

 which the author explains on the assumption that the sugars act as depolarizers. 

 He also concludes that the decrease in resistance to lack of oxygen shown by 

 Fundulus embrj^os in successive stages of development is due to the using-up of 

 material (probably carbohydrates) stored in the egg, 



A paper has been published by Hruby,^'^ which conforms in general to the 

 more modern views as to the nature of respiration; and, though it adds nothing 

 new, it will aid in the propagation of better ideas among European students. 



KbSTYTSCHEW rcports that Aspergillus niger fed with sugar produces little 



CO2 under anaerobic conditions in a gaseous medium, but when submerged in a 



sugar solution it produces CO2 and alcohol abundantly in the same ratio as in 

 alcoholic fermentation. ^^ 



Palladin and Kostytschew concluded that the anaerobic respiration 

 of frozen lupines and stems had nothing to do with alcoholic fermentation.^* 

 Now they add^^ that alcohol formation (in consequence of anaerobic respira- 

 tion of seed-plants) only occurs in the presence of carbohydrates; and when 

 they are absent CO, is formed without alcohol. The chemics of this sort of 



r 



anaerobic respiration they leave for further investigation. — C. R. B. 



The algal flora of the tropics, — Fritsch^° has reached the following conclu- 

 sions from a study of the subaerial and freshwater algae of the tropics. There is 

 evidence that in the damp tropics there is always a very extensive subaerial algal 

 covering, which probably consists almost entirely of Cyanophyceae, which may 

 thus be regarded as an essentially tropical group. This group may be the descend- 

 ants of primitive algal forms which existed at earlier periods under conditions 

 analogous to those found in the damp tropics at the present day. Trentepohlia 

 is the only genus of green algae that is really successful in the subaerial flora. In 



^4 Barnes, C. R., The theory of respiration. Box. Gazette 39:96- 1905- Math- 

 ews, A. P., A theory of the nature of protoplasmic respiration and growth. Biol. 

 Bull. 8:331. 1905. 



^5 Packard, W. H., The effect of carbohydrates on resistance to lack of oxygen. 



Am 



^^Hruby, J., Die Atmung der Pflanzen. Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 211:156-172. 



Ag-y- 3' 1907. 



'7 KosTYTSCHEW, S., Uebcr die Alkoholgamng von Aspergillus niger. Ber. 

 Deutsch. Bot. Gesells. 25:44-50. 1907- 



18 Bot. Gazette 42:397. 1906. 



^9 Palladin, W., and Kostytschew, S., Ueber anaerobe Atmung der Samen- 

 pflanzen. Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesells. 25:51-56. 1907. 



*° Fritsch, F. E., The subaerial and freshwater algal flora of the tropics; a 

 phytogeographical and ecological study. Annals of Botany 21:235-275. 1907. 



