March 7, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



376 



In order to determine whether the character 

 of this curve is altered by exposing the pro- 

 tein to ultraviolet light experiments were 

 made veith egg albumin which had been freed 

 from ammonium sulfate by dialyzing for a 

 long time against tap water. The albumin 

 was exposed at 0° C. : samples were then 

 placed in tubes and heated to various tem- 

 peratures in a water bath. The tubes were 

 centrifuged and the volume of coagulum esti- 

 mated. The method gave only approximate 

 results. However, they were consistent, and 

 the differences in the amount of coagulum 

 obtained under the various conditions were so 

 great that it is evident that the temperature- 

 time curve for coagulation, by heat, of egg 

 albumin which has been exposed to the light, 

 is of the same general form as the one given 

 by Chick and Martin. But the curve lies at 

 all points from 10° to 15° C. below the one 

 given by them. 



The chief result of these experiments is 

 that two reactions are involved in the coagu- 

 lation of proteins by light: the chemical 

 change caused by the light, and the production 

 of a visible coagulum. The light reaction has 

 a very low temperature coefficient, while the 

 reaction producing the visible coagulum has 

 a much higher temperature coefficient. It is 

 probable that similar relations exist in other 

 biochemical and physiological processes which 

 result from the action of light. 



W. T. BoviE 



liiBOKATORT OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 



Harvard University 



THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMESICA 



The annual meeting of the Botanical Society 

 of America was held in the Chemical Building of 

 Western Eeserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, De- 

 cember 31 to January 2, 1913. 



The followijag officers were elected for the en- 

 suing year : 



President — D. H. Campbell, Leland Stanford 

 University. 



Vice-president — M. A. Howe, New York Botan- 

 ical Garden. 



Treasurer — Arthur Hollick, New York Botanical 

 Garden. 



Councilor — George F. Atkinson, Cornell Univer- 

 sity. 



These with E. A. Harper and William Trelease, 

 councilors, and George T. Moore, secretary, con- 

 stitute the council for 1913. 



The following botanists were elected to associate 

 membership: Robert F. Griggs, Ohio State Uni- 

 versity; Alfred P. Eachnowski, Ohio State Uni- 

 versity; Warner Jackson Morse, Maine Experi- 

 ment Station; L. Lancelot Burlingame, Leland 

 Stanford University; John J. Thornber, Univer- 

 sity of Arizona; James Theophilus Barrett, Uni- 

 versity of Illinois; Arlow Burdette Stout, New 

 York Botanical Garden; Ezra Brainerd, Middle- 

 bury, Vt. ; Norman Taylor, curator, Brooklyn 

 Botanic Garden ; William Dana Hoyt, fellow by 

 courtesy, Johns Hopkins University; Edward M. 

 Gilbert, University of Wisconsin; Lester Whyland 

 Sharp, Alma, Michigan; William Skinner Cooper, 

 Carmel, California. 



A symposium on "Permeability and Osmotic 

 Pressure" was held January 1, participated in by 

 Professors Jacques Loeb, Harry C. Jones, W. J. 

 V. Osterhout and Burton E. Livingston. The 

 papers will be printed in the Plant World. 



The address of retiring President W. G. Farlow, 

 on ' ' The Change from the Old to the New Botany 

 in the United States, ' ' ' was delivered at the 

 dinner for all botanists, on the evening of Jan- 

 uary 1. 



Amendments to the constitution, making it pos- 

 sible for all those actively interested in botanical 

 work to become eligible for membership and pro- 

 viding for "fellows," were adopted. The dues 

 for 1913 were made $1.00. Active steps for the 

 publication of a botanical journal by the society 

 were taken. 



First Generation Hybrids between (Enothera 

 LamarcMana and 0. crudata: George H. 

 Shull, Carnegie Institution. 

 Constant Variants of Capsella: Henri Hus, Uni- 

 versity of Michigan. 



Pedigree cultures from the original individual 

 proved the existence of constant forms, not pre- 

 viously reported. Some of these apparently are 

 not identical with the biotypes previously de- 

 scribed by Shull. Emphasis is laid on the impor- 

 tance of the study of seedling stages, since, for 

 purposes of identification, climax leaves may be 

 relied upon under certain conditions only. 



' Science, January 17, 1913. 



