116 SUMMARY OF CUREENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



remains open, the contents also decomposed, Saccharomyces ellipsoideus 

 and S. apiculatus are produced, then alcohol is formed, which is again 

 changed into carbonic anhydride and water, but more frequently into 

 acetic acid. Should heavy rain fall, these affected grapes will do no 

 harm to the must, as they will be washed clean, and only the husks 

 remain. 



Disappearance of Insects in consequence of the appearance of 

 Puccinia malvacearum.* — According to Dr. F. Ludwig, this parasitic 

 fungus first made its appearance in the neighbourhood of Greiz, in 

 1875, since which time its ravages have nearly destroyed all the wild 

 and cultivated Malvaceae. There are many insects the larva of which 

 feed exclusively on various species of the order ; these must either 

 disappear or find some other food-plant. 



New TJstilaginese.t — Herr E. Ule records the following new 

 species of UstilagineaB found on grasses or sedges in Brandenburg : — 

 Tilletia aculeata on Agrojpyrum repens, T. Brizse on Briza media, T. 

 alopecurivora on Alopecurus pratensis, T. Avense on Avena pratensis, 

 T. sterilis on Festuca ovina and Kceleria cristata, Urocystis Festucse 

 on Festuca ovina, and U. Caricis on a species of Carex. 



New Chytridiacea.l — Herr P. Magnus records the discovery of 

 a new species of parasitic fungi belonging to the Chytridiaceae, Olpi- 

 dium zygnemicolum, in the cells of a Zygnema, not attacking either a 

 Spirogyra or Mesocarpus growing along with it. Swarm-cells were 

 observed piercing the cells of the host, from which zoosporangia and 

 resting-cells were developed. It is distinguished from other species 

 of Olpidium by the absence of a long neck to the zoosporangium. 



Rabenhorst's Cryptogamic Flora of Germany (Fungi). — The last 

 three parts (19-21) of this section of Eabenhorst's great work are still 

 occupied with the SphseriacesB, and chiefly with the families Sphserel- 

 loidese and Pleosporese. Of Sphserella 120 species are described, of 

 Leptcsphseria 139, and of Pleospora 63. 



Protophyta. 

 Movements of Oscillaria.§ — Prof. J. B. Schnetzler, from obser- 

 vations of a large species of Oscillaria, 0. aerugineo-cserulea, describes 

 the movements as of six different kinds, viz. (1) Rotation round 

 the axis of the filament or of its segments ; (2) creeping or gliding 

 over a solid substratum ; (3) a free movement of translation in the 

 fluid ; (4) rotation or flexion of the filament ; (5) sharp tremblings or 

 concussions; and (6) radiating arrangement of the entangled fila- 

 ments. The author considers that simple osmose is insufficient to 

 explain these various movements ; but that they must be due, in 

 some way at present unexplained, to the protoplasm. Everything 

 which increases or retards the vital energy of the protoplasm, in- 

 creases or retards respectively the intensity of the movements of the 

 filaments. 



* Hedwigia, xxiv. (1885) pp. 219-20. 



t Verhandl. Bot. Ver. Prov. Brandenburg, xxv. (1884) pp. 212-7. 



X Ibid., xxvi. (1885) pp. 79-80. 



§ Arch. Sci. Phys. et Nat., xiv. (1885) pp. 160-71. 



