April 9, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



545 



fibers. If we limit ourselves to a consideration 

 of the nitrogen figures of the samples repre- 

 senting only the higher stages of development 

 of the cotton fiber even then we are per- 

 mitted to assume that the nitrogen was de- 

 posited early in the lumen of the fiber and its 

 absolute value remained constant. This as- 

 sumption becomes more plausible when the 

 nitrogen figures are multiplied by 6.25 to ex- 

 press the percentage of proteins present in the 

 fiber. Most of this early and constant protein 

 deposit remains in the lumen in the form of 

 insoluble albuminoids and in the form of 

 alcohol soluble proteins; some of it is utilized 

 by the growing fiber, probably by the spiral 

 forming the walls of the lumen. That the pro- 

 teins of the fiber are of an insoluble nature 

 is shown by the fact that the percentage of 

 nitrogen of gray cloth as obtained by Hebden 

 (0.191 per cent.) remained practically un- 

 changed after the "steep" (0.192 per cent.), 

 and that some of it exists in the fiber in the 

 form of alcohol soluble proteins, is shown by 

 the number which he obtained for nitrogen 

 after extracting the cloth by ether and alcohol. 

 The percentage, as shown in his table, was 

 reduced from 0.191 per cent, to 0.161 per cent. 

 The fact that the first caustic boil removed 

 91.5 per cent, of the protein content clearly 

 points to the decomposing action of boiling 

 alkali upon the albuminoids. 



The 7.3 per cent, of total protein content 

 remaining in the fiber after all the operations 

 of the bleaching process can be considered as 

 that part of the fiber proteins which has be- 

 come an inseparable part of the wall of the 

 lumen. The lowest percentage for fats and 

 waxes (2.200 per cent.) obtained by us for the 

 fiber taken directly from the field was con- 

 siderable higher than that obtained by Hebden 

 for fibers which were ginned, carded, spun and 

 woven (1.405 per cent.). The removal of a 

 large part of the fats and waxes by mechanical 

 means during ginning, carding, spinning and 

 weaving proves that these constituents form 

 the outside cover of the fiber, and it is reason- 

 able to suppose, therefore, that they do not 

 play as important a part in bleaching as is 

 ascribed to them. The percentage of nitrogen 

 in our experiment (0.1815 per cent.) was some- 



what smaller than that obtained by Hebden 

 for cotton in the form of cloth (0.191 per 

 cent.) and points to the fact that, unlike the 

 fats and waxes, the proteins of the fiber are 

 not adventitious nor coating factors, but that 

 they are within the lumen or are in part 

 intimately hound to the fiber. As the proteins 

 are of the insoluble kind, the above seems to 

 justify the assumption of Hebden that in 

 bleaching the removal of the proteins may 

 be of more importance than that of the fats 

 and waxes. 



These results and the results of Hebden 

 show the necessity of a careful investigation 

 of the chemical nature of the fatty and waxy 

 substance as well as of a further study of the 

 effect of growth on these constituents of the 

 cotton fiber. 



B. S. Levine 



Biological Laboeatory, 

 Brown TJniveesity, 

 Providence, E. I. 



THE AMEBICAN PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY 



The sixth annual meeting of tbe American Phy- 

 topathologieal Society was held in the medical 

 building of the University of Pennsylvania, Phila- 

 delphia, Pennsylvania, December 29, 1914, to Jan- 

 uary 1, 1915. About 95 members were present; 7 

 new members were elected, making a total of 293. 

 The following officers were elected for 1915 : 



President — H. H. Whetzel. 



Vice-president — ^W. A. Orton. 



Councilor — Mel. T. Cook. 



Donald Beddick was elected editor for three 

 years and made chairman of the board. The fol- 

 lowing associate editors were elected for three 

 years: H. W. Barre, E. A. Bessey, H. R. Fulton, 

 W. T. Home. 



C. L. Shear was elected business manager vice 

 Donald Eeddick. 



The society decided to hold its next annual meet- 

 ing at Columbus, Ohio, in connection with the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence. 



A special meeting is to be held at San Francisco, 

 August 2 to 7. 



The committee on common names of plant dis- 

 eases submitted a report which was ordered dis- 

 tributed to the members of the society for sugges- 

 tion and criticism. 



