818 REPORT— 1902. 



day (to the niglit). When the night was manifestly cold the flow seemed to be 

 affected thereby. 



(3) The flow in all cases did not reach its maximum at once, but the maximum 

 once reached the flow gradually began to diminish, and hour by hour was often 

 seen to diminish ; but taking two, three, or four hours the change was most marked. 

 So that after a few days the flow materially diminished in all cases. 



(4) The flow experienced slight periods of increase and decrease. Thus after 

 estimating the flow from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. and reducing to the hour, the flow from 

 11 to 1 o'clock was found greater per hour. 



(6) The flow having diminished considerably, it was found possible to restore in 

 a measure the permeability of the stem by cutting j inch or i inch from the upper 

 end. 



(6) The permeability although restored was not found to be as permanent as 

 the first. The flow in most cases quickly diminished. 



(7) After a series of amputations with the object of restoring the flow, the 

 stem refused in several cases to transmit the fluids. 



(8) The stems were weighed before and after the experiments in a few cases. 

 The weight after was equal to the weight before the experiments. 



(9) The change from a weak acid to a weak alkaline solution was not followed 

 by an increase in the flow. It was noticed that a weak alkaline fluid did not 

 appear as weak alkaline for a considerable time, and so far as an acid was con- 

 cerned the same result followed. 



(10) An increase in the specific gravity was followed in one case by an increase 

 in the flow. 



(11) The use of small stems was not attended with satisfactory results, as 

 was the examination of larger stems. 



4. The Function of the JVticleolus. By 'H.auolv Wager, F.L.S. 



5, Samsu, a Fermented Drink of Eastern Asia, dnd its Characteristic 

 Fungus. By B. T. P. Barkeb. 



Samsu is a variety of arrack. It is obtained by the distillation of a fermented 

 liquor prepared from rice. Rice is boiled in water and, after cooling, a powdered 

 substance is added to the mixture. This substance causes fermentation, at the 

 end of which the liquid is distilled. The distillate is subjected to a second and 

 third distillation, the final product constituting the true Samsu and containing a 

 high percentage of alcohol. 



The powdered substance can be obtained in the form of small round greyish 

 cakes. One of these was obtained by Mr. D. T. Gwynne-Vaughan at Singgora 

 during the Skeat Expedition to the Malay Peninsula. The author is much 

 indebted to him and to Mr. R. II. Yapp for the supply and for information con- 

 cerning the manufacture of the spirit. 



The composition of the cake is a trade secret, but thei'e are apparently several 

 ingredients, of which pepper and fruit of some kind form a part. On adding a 

 portion to boiled sterilised rice a fungoid growth soou appears, and a red or 

 purple coloration is produced. This is due to a species of Monascus. A bacterium 

 capable of fermenting glucose has also been isolated. 



The biological processes concerned in the manufacture of the spirit are the 

 conversion of the starch of the rice into fermentable sugars by fungi, in particular 

 by a species of Monascus, and the alcoholic fermentation of these sugars by a 

 bacterium, and possibly also by wild yeasts. The species of Monascus is of 

 especial interest. Hitherto the genus has been placed in the Hemiasci on account 

 of a supposed formation of spores in a sporangium, surrounded by an investment 

 of hyphse. It is, however, a true Ascomycete. The fructification is formed from 

 an archicarp, consisting of an antheridium and ascogonium, between which fusion 

 takes place. From the latter a ' central cell ' is cut oft', which swells considerably, 



