July 21, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



85 



flock settles readily until a p^^ of 6.6 is reached. 

 The Highland Park filtration plant operated most 

 efficiently at a Pj, of 7.3 but most economically 

 at 7.5-7.6. 



Formulation of equilihria in the coarndating 

 iasin: A. M. Buswell. 



Report of committee on standard methods of 

 analysis: A. M. Buswell. 



Charles L. Parsons, 



Secreiarii 



THE KENTUCKY ACADEMY OF 

 SCIENCE 



The ninth annual meeting of the Kentucky 

 Academy of Science convened in the physics 

 lecture room of the University of Kentucky on 

 May 20, with President G. D. Smith in the 

 chair. 



Twenty-three new memljers were elected. 

 Ofiicers elected are: Lucien Beckner, Winches- 

 ter, president; John A. Gunton, Transylvania 

 College, Lexington, vice-president ; A. M. Peter, 

 University of Kentucky, Lexington, secretary, 

 and W. S. Anderson, University of Kentucky, 

 Lexington, Treasurer. A. M. Peter holds over 

 as representative in the council of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science. 



The following are abstracts of the communi- 

 cations : 



The Boleti of Kentuclcy : G. D. Sjiith, Eastern 

 Kentucky State Normal School (President's ad- 

 dress). Colored lantern slides and stereoscopic 

 photographs of 37 species of boleti observed in 

 the vicinity of Richmond were presented and ex- 

 plained. 



Factors affecting the germination of the sclero- 

 tia of Claviceps (Ergot of rye) : Feank T. 

 McFarland, University of Kentucky. Most 

 mycologists are fairly well acquainted with the 

 method of germination of sclerotia of Claviceps, 

 but there still remain several factors "which arc 

 poorly understood. During the past two years, 

 the writer has been engaged in a study of the 

 sclerotia of ergot from various countries. In the 

 course of these investigations it has been found 

 that sclerotia more than one year old failed to ger- 

 minate. Sclerotia sown out of doors, on the surface 

 of the soil, without any covering showed good ger- 

 mination of the sclerotia with many \s'ell-formed 

 stromata but the stalks usually are short. Some 

 mycologists seem to have the idea that these 

 sclerotia may have the power to retain their ger- 

 mination ability for more than one year. It is 



quite unlikely that any sclerotia under out-of-door 

 conditions should remain dormant during the first 

 spring after their maturity and germinate the 

 second season. Sclerotia of Claviceps must go 

 through a period of rest. The shortest period of 

 rest so far found is about eight weeks. During 

 this time when the sclerotia are at rest, they must 

 be kept stratified in moist sand. Removal of the 

 cuticle of sclerotia with a scalpel does not pre- 

 vent the germination, but the stromata are nearly 

 always deformed, and all seem to rise from a 

 stromatic cushion. Treating the sclerotia with a 

 5 per cent, and a 30 per cent. NaCl salt solution, 

 and then completely removing all traces of the 

 salt and stratifying the sclerotia in the usual 

 manner did not injure their germination power. 



The role of manganese in plants: J. S. 

 McHaeque, Kentucky Agricultural Experiment 

 Station. The purpose of this investigation was 

 to determine if manganese has any definite func- 

 tion to perform in plant economy. The method of 

 attack has been the preparation of plant nutrient 

 compounds and quartz sand, free from manganese, 

 and the growing of plants in different portions of 

 nutrient solutions or sand cultures from which 

 manganese was withheld and in another equal 

 number of portions of these media to which man- 

 ganese was added. All the plants were grown 

 until those that received manganese showed signs 

 of fructification and a few to maturity. The 

 plants from which manganese was withheld made 

 a normal growth for about six weeks only. There- 

 after they became chlorotio and the young leaves 

 and buds died back and the plants made no fur- 

 ther growth of any consequence, whereas the 

 plants to which manganese was available grew in 

 a normal way and fructified where the plants were 

 grown to that state of maturity. 



The author concludes that manganese is neces- 

 sary in the plant economy and that, therefore, 

 eleven elements are necessary for the normal 

 growth of autotrophic plants, whereas it has been 

 taught previously that only ten are necessary. 



The liydroxy-anthraquinone derivatives in 

 plants: John Aberdeen Gxjnton, Transylvania 

 College. A resumiS was given of the various 

 plants containing derivatives of this type as well 

 as a description of the forms in which these occur. 

 The cathartic principles of cascara, senna, rhu- 

 barb, aloes and buckthorn were shown to be 

 irritant anthracene derivatives that exist in the 

 plant in the form of glucosides to which the physi- 

 ological action is presumably due. Plants con- 

 taining these bodies are found widely distributed 

 throughout the globe and present an interestiup- 



