﻿442 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [june 



the sporidia are formed almost immediately *'and the promycelium consists 

 of little or nothing more than the characteristic four cells,'* This phenome- 

 non is probably quite general among the Uredineae, but the sporidia of 



Ustilago are freely formed under water. — Burton E. Livingston. 



C. K. Schneider has recently published an extended account of the 

 native and introduced woody plants of middle Europe in their winter 

 condition." The work was done mostly at Vienna in the Botanic Garden 

 and Hofmuseum, and is preparatory to an extended description of the 

 woody plants of middle Europe. The first sixty-three pages are devoted to 

 a general discussion and contain numerous cuts from photographs, illustrat- 

 ing habit, bark, and method of branching. The second part is a synoptical 

 arrangement of the species, the classification being based upon characters of 

 the buds and twigs. The species are excellently illustrated with line draw- 

 ings, showing the external characters, and also by a diagrammatic cross-section. 

 It is the most extensive work of this kind we have seen, — A. S. Hitchcock. 



New observations bearing upon the role of water in plants are made by 

 Kurzwelly," who has tested the power to resist poisons which is exhibited by 

 various plant structures, mainly resting forms such as spores, seeds, etc. He 

 finds that resisting power increases as the cells become drier, and that the 

 less the water in the poison used, the longer can the cellswithstand it. Thus, 

 antiseptics are less effective in absolute alcohol than in water. This seems' 

 to be due to the inability of the solvent to penetrate the protective coverings. 

 Gaseous poisons are more effective than those dissolved in other media than 

 water. We may draw two general conclusions from these results : first, in 

 most cases in order that penetration may occur, water must be present in 

 seed-coats, etc.; and, secondly, the less water there is in the protoplasm, the 

 less susceptible is it to the action of poisons. — Burton E. Livingston. 



MOLISCH ^3 reports as a new discovery the presence of amoebae in Volvox. 

 He has evidently overlooked the work of Hicks, published in i860, in which 

 a very complete account of " amoeboid bodies " in Volvox is given. Accord- 

 ing to Molisch the amoeba attacks the coenobium from without by thrusting 

 in a pseudopodium. The number of amoebae varies from ten to thirty in 

 each coenobium. He could not determine whether all the amoebae entered 

 from without. As they were found in the colonies only late in November, 

 Molisch concludes that as the vegetative period nears an end the Volvox 

 cells become less resistant to attacks of the parasite. The account given by 

 Hicks differs from that of Molisch only in interpretation. Hicks did not 



'3Dendrologische Winterstudien. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1903. pp. viii-|-290. 

 figs. 224. 



^^KURZWELLY, Walther, Ueber die Widerstandsfahigkeit trockener pflanzlicher 

 Organismen gegen giftige Stoffe. Jahrb. Wiss. Bot. 38: 291-341. 1902. 



'S MousCH, Hans, Amoeben als Parasiten in Volvox. Bar. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell. 

 21 : 20-23. P^s.3. 1903. 



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