* 
1906] CURRENT LITERATURE 221 
Idioblasts of Cruciferae. —ScHWEIDLER"® has decided to assign a systematic 
value to the peculiar idioblasts of the Cruciferae. The author at present reserves 
judgment as to their generic value, though this is expected to be established by 
further work. He has no doubt, however, that suborders and tribes can be accu- 
rately defined. On this basis he divides the family into three suborders. The 
first is characterized by the presence of idioblasts which contain chlorophyll and 
which are located exclusively in the mesophyll. The idioblasts of the second sub- 
order occur in the vascular tissue and differ from those of the first group in not 
containing chlorophyll. The third suborder is composed.of members which have 
both kinds of idioblasts. Just what would happen to the systematic standing of an 
individual so unfortunate as to have had the development of its idioblasts inhibited 
is certainly not for the reviewer to say, but in view of the urgent necessity of estab- 
lishing systematic work upon an experimental basis rather than morphological, it 
is difficult to escape the conviction that more or less futility is involved in all those 
efforts of which this paper is an example.—RayMonD H. Ponp. 
Araucarineae.—A preliminary note by THOMSON?’ states that in Agathis 
there are many supernumerary nuclei in the pollen tube and that in Araucaria as 
many as thirty were counted. The pollen tube grows along the surface of the 
ligule for 22“ or more before entering the micropyle. The anatomy of the ovule 
and development of the archegonia, as well as of the pollen tubes and megaspore 
membranes indicate that the Araucarineae occupy a very isolated position among © 
the Coniferales 
SEWARD and Forp in an abstract of a paper'® read before the Royal Society 
Dec. 14, 1905, indicate the scope of an extensive investigation of the Araucarieae. 
The section headings are: Introduction, distribution, diagnosis and synonymy, 
seedlings, root bis stem ATONE neers 7 presi rate reproductive shoots, 
fossils, and phylogen lusion 
The ions ‘Annee conclusion is that the group, unlike the Cycadales, has 
been derived from lycopodiaceous ancestors. The Araucarieae differ so greatly 
from the other Coniferales that the — suggest the substitution of the term, 
Araucariales for Araucarieae—CHARLES J. CHAMBE 
Inhibitory action —ERrerA’ suggests that the non-development of lateral 
branches or their growth in a particular position (e. g., of certain conifers) is 
determined by inhibitory stimuli (de nature catalysatrice si l’on veut) traversing 
either bark (Araucaria) or all living cells (Picea). We may conceive, he says, 
the apex of the stem or root asa sort of tyrant who forbids the subjacent 
16SCHWEIDLER, J. H., Die systematische Bedeutung der Eiweiss- oder Myro- 
sinzellen der Cruciferen nebst Beitragen zu ihrer anatomisch-physiologischen Kennt- 
niss. Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesells. 23:274-285. pl. 1905. 
17THOMSON, R. B., Preliminary note on the Araucarineae. Science 22:88. 1905. 
3SEWARD, A. C., and Forp, Sibille, O., The Araucarieae, recent and extinct. 
TOERRERA, L., Conflicts de préséance et excitations inhibitoires chez les végétaux. 
Mém. Soc. Roy. Bot. Belgique 42 : 27-43- 3- Aug. 1905 
