Mat 28, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



797 



is not poisonous. It is most reasonable to assume 

 that it is resistant to such a temperature. 



"The usual method in practise of preparing the 

 shark flesh so that it may gradually lose its poi- 

 sonous qualities is to cut the meat into thin strips 

 ■which are hung up to dry in the sun and air; it 

 thus loses its large quantity of water, and gradu- 

 ally its poisonous qualities disappear, so that H 

 becomes a rather good food for the dogs, though 

 it must still be used with caution and preferably 

 mixed with a little blubber. 



"Eegarding the seat of the poison in the body 

 of the shark we have the most divergent opinions; 

 some assume that it is only in the musculature, 

 others that it is exclusively present in the carti- 

 lage and others again that it is chiefly found in 

 the peritoneal and spinal fluids, as it has been 

 found that these fluids produce a severe pain 

 when received in the eye. A proper judgment on 

 these matters, however, will only be obtained by 

 means of a special investigation of the poison, 

 and such at the same time would elucidate ■ its 

 chemical composition, its physiological properties 

 and various biological reactions." 



A. H. Clark 



TJ. S. National Museum, 

 Washington, D. C. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE CROWN-GALL OF ALFALFA 



During the past two years the vtriter has 

 been engaged in studies upon the life-history 

 of the organism described by Magnus^ in 1902 

 under the name of Urophlyctis alfalfw. It 

 seems best to publish a brief statement of the 

 results so far obtained, pending further studies. 



1. The " resting spores " when placed in 

 water cultures develop into sporangia. 



2. Within these sporangia are formed motile 

 spores of two sizes ; usually one large spore and 

 many small ones are formed in the same 

 sporangium. 



3. One or several small spores may become 

 attached to one large one. Only one remains 

 permanently attached. It has not been deter- 

 mined whether or not this attachment is in 

 the nature of a sexual fusion. If so, the large 

 spores and small spores are obviously capable 



1 Magnus, P., ' ' Ueber in knolligen Wurzelaus- 

 wuchsen der Luzerne lebende Urophlyctis," Ber. 

 der Veut. Bot. Gesell., 20, 291-96, 1902. One 

 plate. 



of functioning as sexually differentiated 

 gametes. 



4. The motion of the large spore continues 

 after the attachment of the small spore. 



5. The small spores, the large spores and 

 the united spores (zygotes?) become amoeboid 

 after a period of motility. 



6. In the amceboid state, singly or in groups, 

 these bodies may be observed to move on the 

 surface of the host. 



7. In infected soil young alfalfa seedlings 

 develop galls in which plasmodia are found. 



8. In older galls similar plasmodia are pres- 

 ent which ramify through the tissues of the 

 gall. Previous to spore formation the para- 

 site becomes massed in cavities formed by the 

 destruction of the host tissue. 



9. The resting spores are formed in these 

 cavities, apparently by division of the parasite 

 into many cells. 



10. The content, cytoplasm and nuclei, of 

 the resting spores in the dormant condition, 

 corresponds to that of the Plasmodium in the 

 stage immediately preceding spore formation. 



The presence of a Plasmodium as the vege- 

 tative stage of the parasite and the entire ab- 

 sence of a mycelium at any stage suggest that 

 possibly the organism should be removed from 

 the genus Urophlyctis. 



Orville T. Wilson 



Univeksity of Wisconsin 



A preliminary note on the food habits and 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE TEXAS HORNED LIZARDS 



Random examinations of stomach contents, 

 made by various workers during the past forty 

 years, have indicated that Phrynosoma cor- 

 nutum, the Texas horned lizard, is of great 

 economic importance. To determine its status 

 as a valuable animal, an examination of four 

 hundred and eighty-five stomachs has been 

 made. As only a small per cent, of the animals 

 found in the field were captured and killed, 

 several facts — ^besides the principal one — con- 

 cerning this animal have been disclosed. 



The Texas horned lizard, unlike the other 

 species of the genus, is distinctly not a desert 

 form. Its area of distribution is quite exten- 

 sive, going northward into Kansas, southward 



