60 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 758 



to be desired from the standpoint of details, 

 and details whicla are essential to a clear and 

 comprehensive discussion of the localities in 

 ■which gold is found and its associated min- 

 erals. 



The book is well written, and while it con- 

 tains much of interest it is doubtful whether 

 it fills any great and pressing need which is 

 not already occupied by other works. An im- 

 portant and valuable feature is the compara- 

 tively large number of references embodied in 

 the text to which the reader may turn for 

 verification of stated facts or to extend his 

 information. Its chief value lies in the fact 

 that the occurrence of gold is given for the 

 whole world and not for some particular 

 country. To those who enter upon the study 

 of precious metals, a keen regret must be 

 experienced in the perusal of such a work, 

 that both of the precious metals, gold and 

 silver, could not have been considered together, 

 owing to their intimate association in ore 

 deposits and their relations to commerce and 

 industry in the world's community. In many 

 respects this work is a valuable addition to the 

 literature on the occurrence of gold, and will 

 be welcomed by many. 



Walter E. Crane 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The June number (volume 15, number 1) 

 of the Bulletin of the American Mathematical 

 Society contains the following papers: Report 

 of the April meeting of the society, by F. N. 

 Cole; Eeport of the April meeting of the 

 Chicago section, by H. E. Slaught; "A Set of 

 Criteria for the Summability of Divergent 

 Series," by W. B. Ford; "On Fredholm's 

 Equation," by P. Saurel ; " The Chicago Sym- 

 posium on Mathematics for Engineering Stu- 

 dents," review by H. W. Tyler; "Osgood's 

 Calculus," review by C. N. Haskins; " Shorter 

 Notices " : Bachmann's Grundlehren der neu- 

 eren Zahlentheorie, by J. W. Young; White- 

 head's Axioms of Descriptive Geometry, by 

 F. W. Owens; Jouguet's Lectures de Mecan- 

 ique, and Andoyer's Cours d' Astronomic, by 

 W. E. Longley; "Notes"; "New Publica- 

 tions." 



The July number (concluding volume 15) 

 of the Bulletin contains : " Tautochrones and 

 Brachistochrones," by E. Kasner ; " Degener- 

 ate Pencils of Quadrics connected with T",XX n 

 Configurations," by W. B. Carver ; " On the 

 Use of n-fold Eiemann Spaces in Applied 

 Mathematics," by J. McMahon ; " Mathemat- 

 ical Appointments in Colleges and Universi- 

 ties," by E. J. Wilezynski; Picard's Algebraic 

 Functions of Two Variables, review by J. I. 

 Hutchinson ; " Shorter Notices " : Correspond- 

 ance d'Hermite et de Stieltjes, by James Pier- 

 pont; Scott's Cartesian Plane Geometry, Part 

 I., Analytical Conies, by E. G. Bill; Hilbert's 

 Grundlagen der Geometric, third edition, by 

 A. E. Schweitzer; Klein-Schimmaek, Vor- 

 trage iiber den mathematischen Unterricht an 

 den hbheren Schulen, Part I., by J. W. A, 

 Young; "Notes"; "New Publications"; 

 " Eighteenth Annual List of Papers read be- 

 fore the Society and Subsequently Pub- 

 lished " ; Index of Volume. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



DIPLODIA DISEASE OF MAIZE (SUSPECTED CAUSE 



OF pellagra) 



For about two years the writers have been 

 studying the Diplodia disease of corn now 

 serious in some parts of the country, with es- 

 pecial reference to its manner of infection. 

 An examination of a bundle of maize plants 

 sent from the west in 1907 indicated pretty 

 clearly that the infection of the cobs was 

 from within, i. e., from the interior of the 

 stem by way of the root system, and not 

 simply a local attack as hitherto supposed. 

 The mycelium was found in all the inner 

 parts of many stems from roots to cobs and 

 in the interior of the latter, and the kernels 

 were moldy (white). 



In February, 1908, pot experiments were 

 started in one of the hothouses to verify this 

 inference, the soil being inoculated with pure 

 cultures of the fungus. On June 2 in one 

 of the pots the Diplodia was found fruiting 

 on the roots and at the base of the stem, and 

 the mycelium of the fungus was found in the 

 interior of the root, stem and cob in abun- 



