Mat 22, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



833 



tion of " Notes on Fungi " which promise to 

 yield critical discussions of much value. He 

 shows that what has been known as Corticium 

 tremellinum var. reticulatum, is, in the first 

 place, not a Corticium, but a Tremella, and 

 that the variety is a distinct species, to be 

 known hereafter as Tremella reticulata. He 

 shows that what has been known as Synchy- 

 trium phwiannulaium (a parasite in a species 

 of Sardcula) is in reality Urophlyctis plurian- 

 nulatus, and that a uredineous parasite of 

 Bubus neglectus and jB. sirigosus, hitherto 

 known as or confused with Phragmidium 

 gracile, is Pucciniastrum arcticum var. ameri- 

 canum. He is further of the opinion that 

 the Pucciniastrum on PotenUlla tridentata is 

 P. potentillae. Further notes from this 

 source will be eagerly looked for by mycolo- 

 gists. 



In Annales Mycologici (V., No. 7, 1907) 

 Professor F. L. Stevens figures and describes 

 " Some Eemarkable Nuclear Structures in 

 Synchytrium." The paper is a record of 

 facts, and the author does not attempt to base 

 any conclusions upon what he has seen. 

 Other recent fungus papers by the same author 

 are " An Apple-rot due to Volutella, " and a 

 "List of New York Fungi," in the March 

 and May numbers of the Journal of Mycology 

 (1907), and "The Chrysanthemum Eay 

 Blight" in the Botanical Gazette (October, 

 1907). The fungus which causes the ray 

 blight of the chrysanthemum appears to be 

 new, and is described as Ascochyta chrysan- 

 themi. 



Heinrich Hasselbring's paper on " The 

 Carbon Assimilation of Penicillium " in the 

 Botanical Gazette for March, 1908, is a con- 

 tribution to our knowledge of the chemistry of 

 the assimilation of some of the simpler com- 

 pounds by plants. Among the results noted is 

 the fact that " alcohol, acetic acid and the 

 substances from which the acetic acid radicle 

 CH3COO — is easily derived are assimilated by 

 Penicillium glaucum." 



A disease of the sugar cane known as " red- 

 rot " has been investigated by L. Lewton- 

 Brain, pathologist of the experiment station of 

 the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association, 



who has found it to be due to the entrance 

 of the fungus, Colletotrichum falcatum, 

 through wounds made by insects or other 

 agents. Once within the tissues of the stem 

 the fungus penetrates the cells, kills them, and 

 gives the affected areas a red color. There 

 is no external sign of the presence of the 

 disease, except in severe cases when the leaves 

 may turn yellow and the whole plant die. 



Mention should be made here of Scott and 

 Borer's paper " Apple Leaf -spot caused by 

 Sphaeropsis malorum" in Bulletin 121 of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture; of W. H. 

 Lawrence's record of " Some Important Plant 

 Diseases of Washington " in Bulletin 83 of 

 the Oregon Experiment Station, and Cook 

 and Home's " Insects and Diseases of the 

 Orange " in Bulletin 9 of Estacion Central 

 Agronomica de Cuba. 



Here also may be mentioned Professor 

 Harshberger's paper " A Grass-kiUing Slime 

 Mould" in the Proceedings of the American 

 Philosophical Society, Vol. XLV., recording a 

 ease in which the Plasmodia of Physarum 

 cinereum killed the blades of grass over which 

 they had grown. 



NOTES ON ALGAE AND AROHEGONIATAE 



Dr. M. a. Howe continues his interesting 

 Phycological Studies in a recent number of 

 the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Cluh 

 (pp. 491-516, 1907) under the title of 

 " Further Notes on Halimeda and Avrain- 

 villea" accompanying it with six full-page 

 plates. He describes and figures the sporangia 

 of Halimeda tridens from Porto Rico, dis- 

 cusses the American species of Halimeda of 

 the H. tuna group (H. tuna, H. discoidea and 

 H. scahra), discusses the American species of 

 the H. tridens group {H. tridens, H. monile, 

 H. simulans and H. favulosa), describes the 

 sporangia of Avrainvillea nigricans, and 

 enumerates and describes the American species 

 of Avrainvillea {A. nigricans, A. longicaulis, 

 A. levis and A. rawsoni). 



Professor Doctor N. Wille's " Algologischen 

 Untersuchungen " (I. -VII.) contains papers 

 on the development of Prasiola furfuracea; a. 



