444 BOTANICAL GAZETTE | DECEMBER 
experiments agree in the main with those of Neumayer except that he claims 
that an injury to an animal may always be expected if fermentable substances 
be taken at the same time as the yeasts. 
Professor A. W. Bitting and Charles E. Davis, as the result of a study of 
‘The bacteriological flora of the air in stables,” give descriptions and illus- 
trations of eighteen forms studied in detail. 
“A revision of the species of the genus Plantago occurring within the 
United States,” by Alida M. Cunningham, suggests an arrangement of species 
based upon seed characters, in the belief that such characters are most likely 
to be constant and of diagnostic value. According to Miss Cunningham, the 
genus may be broken up into three sections, clearly separated by seed char- 
acters as follows: 
1) Seeds oval in cross section (P. cordata, Major, Rugelit, ertopoda, 
decipiens, maritima, Tweedy?) ; (2) seeds more or less anther shaped in cross 
section (P. danceolata, Patagonica, hirtella, Virginica, rubra, minima ?); 
(3) seeds irregularly lobed in cross section (P. elongata, heterophylla, Bige- 
fovii). Miss Cunningham considers that no good reason exists why vars. 
artstat gnaphaliotdes of P. Patagonica, and var. longifolio of P. Virgin- 
ica should be raised to specific rank, concluding from seed characters that 
they should still be considered as varieties. P. decipiens, however, she 
lieves, should not be included under P. maritima, being clearly separable 
m that species. So far as examined, all forms labeled P. major, var. 
Asiatica, are referable to either P. major or P. Rugelii. Two new species, 
P. rubra and P. minima, are described ; - rubra ee raisin from P. Vir- 
ginica by the dense hairs, ] f capsule, color, 
cross section and size of seeds; P. minima y being closely allied to P. Pata 
gonica, var. gnaphatioides, and separated from it by size, surface of sepals, size 
of capsule, color, size and surface of seed. The material examined by Miss 
Cunningham embraced the collections of the National Herbarium, the Her- 
barium of the University of Minnesota, the Herbarium of Professor John M. 
Coulter, and that of Purdue University. The work has been done with extreme 
care, and the analytic keys and figures accompanying the article add greatly 
to its value. 
Miss Clara Cunningham, in a concisely written paper accompanied by two 
plates, gives the result of experimental studies concerning the “ Effects of 
drought upon certain plants.” The result of the experiments served to show 
that immature Laie subjected to drought even for avery short time, undergo 
deci 
idec » not merely in general appearance, but also in structural 
details. 
i -_ —— pereenswes a is neem — > so far as the letter press 
goes, but th y hile the platesin the 
oo 
_e  See. CL L 12 Be Thew 
of the Academy is excellent, that of the state printer is not beyond reproach. 
