420 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 794 



" The general purpose of the instruction 

 given was stated to be not to prove or disprove 

 any particular theory or doctrine, but to en- 

 able the student to know and to understand 

 facts and conditions; to fit him to solve for 

 himself the problems of government and of 

 society, rather than to send him forth with a 

 solution for all the problems that he may en- 

 counter. 



" The Board of Visitors finds that the in- 

 struction given in the university, including 

 that given by Professor Eoss, is such as to 

 strengthen, not to weaken, respect for gov- 

 ernment and the institutions of existing so- 

 ciety. 



Evidently the Board of Eegents takes a 

 more serious view of the case than the Board 

 of Visitors but they agree that Professor Eoss 

 has been indiscreet. So does Professor Eoss, 

 for in a letter to President Van Hise he 

 frankly acknowledges that he should not have 

 alluded to Miss Goldman's lecture in his 

 classes and promises not to commit that sort 

 of a mistake again. We hope, therefore, that 

 he will not feel that the censure of the regents 

 makes it incumbent upon him to resign, and 

 we hope that the regents will not feel it neces- 

 sary to impose any further restrictions on 

 freedom of expression by members of the fac- 

 ulty. — The Independent. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Researches on Fungi. An account of the pro- 

 duction, liberation and dispersion of the 

 spores of Hymenomycetes treated botan- 

 ically and physically. Also some observa- 

 tions upon the discharge and dispersion of 

 the spores of Aseomycetes and of Pilobolus. 

 By A. H. Eeginald Buller. London, New 

 Tork, Bombay and Calcutta. Longmans, 

 Green & Co. 1909. 



Por several years Dr. Buller has been en- 

 gaged in studying the biology of certain 

 species of Hymenomycetes with special rela- 

 tion to their response to external natural stim- 

 uli, to the mechanism of spore discharge, the 

 velocity of spore fall, the adaptation of the 

 spores for wind dispersal, and the correlation 

 of the structure and development of the fruit 



bodies, with their adjustments, for the pro- 

 duction and dissemination of spores. A few 

 papers have aheady been published in the 

 Annals of Botany and the Journal of Eco- 

 nomic Biology, dealing with the biology and 

 adjustments of Polyporus squamosus and Len- 

 tinus squamosus (L. lepideus), but the larger 

 body of interesting results are here published 

 for the first time. It constitutes a notable 

 contribution to the biology of the fungi, es- 

 pecially in regard to the question of spore 

 discharge and spore fall in the Hymenomy- 

 cetes, and the remarkable adjustments of the 

 plants which assure the dissemination of 

 myriads of these minute reproductive bodies. 



Under the influence of gravity the geo- 

 tropic curvature of the stem of certain agarics 

 has been shown by Dr. Buller to exhibit the 

 same phenomenon of geotropic swinging or 

 swaying which occurs in the shoots of seed 

 plants. He first observed this in Coprinus 

 plicatilis where there was an overtilting or 

 supracurvature four times before it came to 

 rest in the perpendicular position. Coprinus 

 plicatiloides Buller, a very minute species 

 growing on horse dung, is remarkably sensi- 

 tive, one plant curving through 90° in 1Y.5 

 minutes. This species also shows geotropic 

 swinging, the successive supracurvatures of 

 the individuals mentioned being 28°, 8°, 

 1°, 0°. 



It has long been known that gravity influ- 

 ences the direction of growth of the stem of 

 many agarics, the stems being negatively geo- 

 tropic, and the horizontal development of the 

 pileus of many woody or corky species of the 

 Polyporacese, the fruit bodies of these plants 

 being diageotropic. These adjustments under 

 the influence of gravity have been recognized 

 as of the greatest importance in permitting 

 the fall of the spores from between the closely 

 approximated gills of most agarics and from 

 the long narrow tubes of most polypores. Dr. 

 Buller has now placed the interpretation of 

 some of these phenomena on a sound experi- 

 mental basis and has shown also the varia- 

 tions and limitations of the influence of grav- 

 ity in relation to the adjustment of position 

 of the different parts of the fruit body in 



