900 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 753 



gas volume to standard conditions applied to 

 tke estimation of urea in urine by the hypo- 

 bromite method. " The Eelation of Different 

 Acids to the Precipitation of Casein and the 

 Solubility of Cheese Curds in Salt Solutions," 

 by J. L. Sammis and E. B. Hart. The amount 

 of N/10 acid required to precipitate casein 

 from a lime-water solution varies with the 

 temperature, kind of acid and age of solution. 

 The solubility of cheese curds in salt solution 

 depends upon the kind of salt and the con- 

 centration. It is influenced by contact with 

 acids. " An Endeavor to Account for the 

 Transfer of Proteid in Inanition," by Albert 

 WoeKel. An attempt to explain why some 

 tissues waste more than others during inani- 

 tion by comparison of autolytic and hetero- 

 lytic digestions. Eesults negative. "Pro- 

 ceedings of the American Society of Biological 

 Chemists," in session in Baltimore, December 

 28-31, 1908. 



The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 

 March describes " A Method of Mounting 

 Eggs," by Raymond Bennett, in use in the 

 Ipswich Museum; and Mrs. Eoesler tells of 

 " The Work of an Instructor in the American 

 Museum of Natural History," whose work lay 

 especially with children and teachers. There 

 is a note on a " Conference on Indian Mu- 

 seums " at which eleven governments or states 

 were represented and a variety of topics dis- 

 cussed. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin for April 

 is an Aquarium Number, devoted to things 

 aquatic. It contains a description of " The 

 Bermuda Aquarium," tells of " Frogs and 

 Frog Eaising," of the " Water-throwing Habit 

 of Fishes in the New York Aquarium," of 

 "The Solution of the Carp Problem" and 

 " Angling and Water Pollution." Finally there 

 is " A Photographic Study of the Ghost Crab." 



The Museum, News, of the Brookl3m Insti- 

 tute, is mainly devoted to a " Guide to the 

 Exhibits Illustrating Evolution and the 

 Preservation of Animals " and a " Guide to 

 the Trees and Important Shrubs of Bedford 

 Park." 



The Bulletin of the Charleston Museum 

 announces the beginning of a collection to 



illustrate the mineralogy of the middle and 

 southern Atlantic states, to be known as the 

 "Piedmont Mineral Collection." 



BOTANIOAL NOTES 

 It now turns out that the big cactus so 

 common in Arizona, and which is a foot or 

 so thick, and from fifty to sixty feet in height, 

 is not a Gereus as had always been supposed. 

 Under this generic name it had been known 

 in books and reports as C. giganteus. A re- 

 cent careful study of this plant by Drs. Brit- 

 ton and Eose has convinced them that its 

 reference to this genus by Engelmann was 

 erroneous, and they find that it is the type of 

 a new and hitherto undescribed genus, which 

 they name Carnegiea (Jour. N. Y. Bot. Oard., 

 Nov., 1908). Accordingly this striking cactus 

 is hereafter to be known under the name of 

 Carnegiea gigantea (Engelm.) Britt. and Eose. 



Another genus has been segregated from 

 Gereus, to which the name Harrisia has been 

 given by Dr. Britton (Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, 

 Dec, 1908). Three species from Cuba and 

 Jamaica are now referred to this genus, and 

 five new species from Cuba, Porto Eico, Haiti 

 and the Bahamas are added. 



A MORPHOLOGICAL paper of much more than 

 ordinary importance recently appeared in the 

 Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of 

 Arts and Sciences (Vol. 14, pp. 59 to 170), 

 under the title of " The Morphology of Bup- 

 pia maritima," by Dr. A. H. Graves. This 

 plant is a slender branching aquatic, grass- 

 like in appearance and belonging to the fam- 

 ily Potamogetonaceae, which contains other 

 genera and species of "pondweeds." After a 

 morphological and ecological study of the 

 vegetative organs, the reproductive organs are 

 taken up in a most satisfactory manner, fol- 

 lowed by a study of embryo, fruit, seed and 

 seedling. Thirty-three text illustrations and 

 fifteen large, full-page plates with 121 figures 

 help to elucidate the descriptions. A bibliog- 

 raphy of 98 titles closes the paper. In his 

 closing chapter devoted to a summary of the 

 relationships of Euppia to other Potamoge- 



