222 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



with the former of these subjects, and is divided under the following 

 heads : — 



The physical properties and molecular structure of organized 

 bodies ; including the form of the micella, the mechanical phenomena 

 of swelling, the change of physical properties occasioned by it, and 

 the structure of lirotojDlasm. The mechanical phenomena of meta- 

 stasis, including the osmotic properties of cells, cuticle, and cork, the 

 osmotic pressure in cells, the power of selection, the specific osmotic 

 capacity of the various organs, and the properties and influence of the 

 soil. The mechanical phenomena of the interchange of gases, in- 

 cluding the passage of gases through the cells and cell-walls, stomata 

 and leuticels as conductors of gases, the pressure of gases, &c. The 

 movements of water, including transpiration and the excretion of 

 water. Food-materials, including the production of organic substances 

 and decomposition of carbonic acid gas, the absorption of organic 

 food, the synthesis of nitrogenous substance, and the composition of 

 the ash. The movements of fluid and solid substances, as gums, 

 resins, pigments, and other nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous sub- 

 stances, the constituents of the ash, &c., and the movements which 

 take i^lace during germination. Eespiration and fermentation, in- 

 cluding the products of respiration, the relation between normal and 

 intramolecular respiration, and the influence of external conditions. • 



Phosphorescence in Plants.* — L. Crie calls attention to some 

 new cases of phosphorescence in plants. As is known, the flowers of 

 Phanerogams will, under certain circumstances, show phosphorescent 

 gleams, and a few years ago, in stormy weather, the author saw 

 phosphorescence produced by the flowers of Tropceolum majus. This 

 emission of light is characteristic of Fungi, especially Agaricus olearius, 

 A. igneus, A. nodilucens, A. Gardneri, A. lampas, and several other 

 Australian forms, also Auricularia phosphorea and Pohjporus citrinus. 

 The luminous strings of Bhizomorpha subterranea are readily obser- 

 vable in the Pontpean mine, near Rennes. M. Crie also cites Bhizo- 

 morpha setiformis and a particular form of Bhizomorpha which he has 

 observed in the interior of branches of the elder. Having divided a 

 number of these branches in the interior of which filaments of a 

 Bhizomorpha were developed, between the wood and the pith, the 

 author was surprised to see very faint gleams produced by the fungus. 

 It possesses a reproductive apparatus which seems by its organization 

 identical with the conidiophorous clavicle of Stilhum. Only those 

 filaments that bore abundance of conidia produced phosphorescent 

 gleams. Finally, Xylaria polymorpha, gathered on old stumps in a 

 garden, emitted faint white gleams comparable to those produced by 

 phosphorus when oxydizing. In both cases the author considers 

 the phosphorescence to be an efiect of the respiration of the conidio- 

 phorous portions of Bhizomorpha and Xylaria. 



Transformation of Starch-f— W. Detmer states that the presence 

 of carbonic acid greatly promotes the transformation of starch into 



* Comptfs Rendus, xciii. (18S1) pp. 853-4. 



t SB. Jeiiaisci). Ges. fiir Med. u. Naturw., 1881, June 17. 



