478 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JUNE 
After two months analysis showed a marked loss of the calcium oxalate in 
the roots cultivated in pure sand, and but little decrease in the roots grown in 
the sand containing calcium. He concludes the oxalate here was drawn on 
to supply a demand for calcium. 
The conduct of calcium oxalate in stems and branches was also investi- 
gated. In this connection analyses of barks with reference to the distribu- 
tion of oxalate are of interest. The bark from trunks and branches of sev- 
eral trees gave uniformly a largely increasing amount of oxalate as one 
passes inward toward the cambium, the extremes in the oak being 4.96 per 
cent. in the outer cortex in the autumn, and 11.03 per cent. in the inner 
parts. 
Analyses made at different times in the growing season showed that dur- 
ing the development of the buds the amount of calcium oxalate in the bark 
undergoes a marked decrease. The loss resulting from spring development 
was found to range between 12 and 42 per cent. of the amount present in 
the winter. This is accepted as evidence that calcium oxalate is made use 
of during the season of spring activity. 
The solubility of calcium oxalate in various plant acids was tested and 
found to be considerable in concentrations varying from 0.1 to a.oo! per Cent. 
Crystals examined after treatment presented a corroded appearance. 
The author regards the water stream passing upward from the roots 
through the stem as the dissolving medium, and sees in the large calcium 
content often observed in the sap of trees a confirmation of this view.— 
RODNEY H. TRUE. 
_ ‘THE ECOLOGICAL RELATIONS of the underground systems of plants have | 
been too little regarded, in spite of the fact that many of the most significant 
adaptations are of a subterranean nature. Rimbach’s former studies™ om 
_ underground stems and their methods of becoming deeply placed have 
_ been supplemented by a more comprehensive recent study." In the mean- 
time Areschoug has written a paper upon the same subject.” Areschoug has 
—— — hae a plants, meaning those plants whose shoots 
_) persest , th ical term “aerophilous” denoting such plants foes 
= he aerial shoots. | The geophyte condition is an adaptation against 
: climatic extremes ; annuals: die when the dry or cold season advances, trees — 
and mietaae — themselves ~ — while most ere herbs" 
“Acta Regs Soc. Pays Lund. T. : 
