430 _ BOTANICAL GAZETTE [DECEMBER 
L. H. Pammel and J. B. Weems of the Iowa State College of Agriculture, 
and F. Lamion-Scribner, agrostologist of the U. S. Department of Agricul- 
ture. The present volume is general and preliminary, bringing together a 
large amount of material in reference to the structure of grasses, the purity 
and vitality of grass seed, cereals, fungus diseases of grasses, bacterial dis- 
eases, pastures and meadows of Iowa, weeds of meadows and pastures, 
chemistry of foods and feeding, and lawns and lawn making in lowa.— 
~M. C, 
ERWIN F, SmMITH™ has published the detailed results of his studies of 
some yellow forms of Pseudomonas. The investigation was very exhaustive, 
dealing with growth in fluid and solid media, sensitiveness to acids, diastasic 
action, aerobism, relative nutrient value of carbon compounds, temperature 
experiments, formation of acids and alkalies, reduction experiments, tests for 
hydrogen sulfid and nitrites, formation of indol, ferments, pigment studies, 
nature of the cell wall, vitality, and diagnostic characters. The four species 
studied, in the order mentioned in the title, are concerned with diseases of 
hyacinths, cabbages, beans, and sweet corn.—J. M. C 
FRIEDEL” claims to have observed the synthesis of carbohydrates, as 
measured by the absorption of carbon dioxid and emission of oxygen, without 
the presence of a living organism. Leaves were treated with glycerin under 
pressure and an extract obtained. A green powder was obtained from leaves 
heated to a temperature of over 100°C. Upon the exposure of a mixture of 
the leaf powder and extract to the light, oxygen was given off and carbon 
dioxid absorbed. Friedel concludes that synthesis is accomplished with or 
without the presence of living matter by means of a diastase which uses the 
energy of the solar rays. Chlorophyll is supposed to act asa sensitizer.— 
H. C. Cowes, ; 
THE SECOND PART of the second volume of the “Catalogue of the 
African plants collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in 1853-61,"’ and pub- 
lished by the British Museum, has just appeared. It contains the crypto- 
gams, which have been distributed among investigators as follows: pteri- 
dophytes by W. CARRUTHERS ; mosses by ANTONY GEPP, including 10 new 
Species and a new genus (Trachyphyllum) near Erythrodontium ; liverworts 
by F. STEPHAN], including 7 new species ; marine algae by ETHEL S. BAR- 
TON ; freshwater algae by W. WesT; diatoms by T. ComBER; lichens by 
E. A. WAINIO, 83 new species being described ; fungi by ANNIE L. SMITH; 
and ‘“ Mycetozoa” by ARTHUR LisTER.—J. M. C 
* Compt. Rend. 132: 1128-1140. 1901. 
12 The onityural -h ¢ ae 
P. Stewarti, four one-flagellate 
udomonas Hyacinthi, P. campestris, P. Phaseolt, and 
D yellow bacteria parasitic on plants. Bulletin 28 U. S. 
epartment of Agriculture, Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology. FP- 
153. August 6, 1901. 
