1907] CURRENT LITERATURE 3S5 



Pavia memoirs 



The tenth volume of the A tti of the botanical institute of the University of Pa via' 

 precedes in publication the ninth, because the plates of an incomplete research are 

 already printed and numbered for the ninth volume. Volume X, containing work 

 dating from 1904 to 1907, opens with a portrait of Federico Delpino, a bibliog- 

 raphy, and a brief dedication of the volume to him by his friend, the director, 

 Dr. Gio\'ANNi Briosi. 



There are several papers on plant diseases. First is an elaborate , and well- 

 illustrated account by Briosi and Farneti of the white rust of the lemon, a 

 serious disease in Sicily, due to some of the developmental forms of Rhynchodiplodia 

 Citrij such as Pseiidofumago Citri, Cladosporium Citric Hormodendron Citrij etc. 

 TuRcoNi describes a new fungus from ^lexico, Phyllachora mexicanay parasitic on 

 Adolphia injesta ?vleissn., the chaquirilla. Farneti and Pollaccx describe a new 

 mode of dispersal of phylloxera by hibernating larvae, inclosed in galls of peculiar 

 form, Farneti has a paper on a disease of rice, known in lisi\yQ,shriisone and by 

 a great variety of other names, which he ascribes to a single rather polymorphic 

 fungus, Piricidaria Oryzae Briosi & Cavara. It occurs also in Japan. It is 

 transmitted by infected seeds and straw, and spores are distributed by wind and 

 water. The parasite infests Panicum and Leersia also. Briosi details his rather 

 hurried observations on the government nurseries of vines in Sicily, in which the 

 disease roncet has appeared among the American stock destined to replace the 

 vines destroyed by phylloxera. The disease is not threatening, but he recom- 

 mends precautions. Besides these there are various short notes on fungus diseases. 



There are several microchemical papers; one by Cazzxsi is a critique of 

 GoRis' work on esculin; another by Pollacci suggests a better mode of testing 

 for phosphorus in plant tissues. Pollacci also reviews the history of the dis- 

 covery of formaldehyde in plants and files his caveat as first discoverer in July 1899, 



In physiology there are three papers. One is a short note by Monteilirtixi, 

 bringing evidence against Jost's theory that the development of the leaf traces is 

 due to stimulus from the growing organ above, A paper by the same author 

 gives a resume of the preA'ious work upon the formation of proteids and reports 

 the first results he obtained in a study of the effects of light on the process, which 

 indicate that it is favorable thereto. Pollacci, confirming his earlier conclusions, 

 reports that plants emit hydrogen in light; but he also finds that they give it off in 

 darkness, and that certainly cannot be related to photos}Tithesis. Nevertheless 

 he maintains the reduction of H2CO3 by H/ into HCOH + HOH + O. 



The morphological papers include two brief notes by Montemartixi, one 

 on the origin of anomalous pitchers from the leaves of Saxijraga crassijolia; 

 the other on a biological adaptation of the leaves of Buxus sempervirens, wherein 

 he finds a mass of ice formed on freezing days between the lower epidermis and 



^Atti dell' Istituto Botanico dell' Universita di Pavia. Redatti da Giovanni 

 Briosi. II Serie, Volume X. Imp. Svo. pp. xxiv + 361. I portraiL pis, 28 (20 

 colored). Milano: Tipo-Lit. Rebeschini di Turati E. C. 1907. 



