Maeoh 20, 1903.J 



SCIENCE. 



463 



Artificial Sea-water: Dr. Rodney H. Tkue, 



Department of Agriculture. 



Two solutions were tested: (1) A syn- 

 thetic solution made up with chemically 

 pure chemicals and distilled water, and 

 (2) a solution made by redissolving in a 

 proper volume of distilled water sea salts 

 that had been obtained by carefully evap- 

 orating sea water to dryness over a water- 

 bath. The composition of the synthetic 

 solution adopted was the average estab- 

 lished by the Challenger analyses. 



Cladiphora gracilis and Enteromorpha 

 intestinalis, together with small scup, sil- 

 versides and other marine fish and lower 

 animals, were found to live and grow for 

 part of the summer in both solutions. In 

 view of certain unfavorable conditions 

 under which these tests were made, these 

 results make it seem very probable that 

 artificial solutions may be used to replace 

 sea water in some kinds of marine aqua- 

 rium work. 



Notes on the Genus Herpomyces: Professor 

 Roland Thaxter, Harvard University. 

 The morphology and development of 

 Herpomyces were described with the aid of 

 diagrams. With the exception of certain 

 species of Dimeromyces the genus is the 

 only one among the Laboulbeniaceae the 

 members of which are parasitic on orthop- 

 terous insects, and is of interest from the 

 fact that it adds another to the short list 

 of genera in which the sexual organs are 

 separated on different individuals, which, 

 however, normally develop side by side in 

 pairs corresponding to the spore pairs 

 formed in the ascus. The germinating fe- 

 male spore forms a minute 'primary recep- 

 tacle,' which gives rise to one or more fer- 

 tile branches; and the latter, coming in 

 contact with the substratum, form 'second- 

 ary receptacles,' which may creep more or 

 less extensively, and, becoming independent 

 of the primary receptacle, after perfora- 



ting the integument of the host by means 

 of clearly defined short haustoria, produce 

 a variable number of perithecia. The 

 primary receptacle of the male individual 

 is similar to that of the female, and usually 

 produces a variable number of simple an- 

 theridia directly; in one instance also jjr.o- 

 ducing in addition secondary receptacles 

 as in the female, the perithecia being, how- 

 ever, replaced by tufts of antheridial 

 branches. Although these plants occur on 

 insects (Blattidse) which are supposed to 

 belong to one of the most ancient types, 

 and are distinctly aberrant when compared 

 with other Laboulbeniaceje, they do not 

 appear to represent as primitive a type of 

 structure as is found in some other genera, 

 nor do they seem to throw new light on 

 the as yet obscure relationships of the 

 group. 



The Contribution of Linnmus and his Stu- 

 dents to Phytogeography : Dr. Heney 

 C. CowLES, University of Chicago. 

 The path-breaking work of Linnaeus in 

 taxonomy is well recognized, but phyto- 

 geographers have commonly begun their 

 science with Humboldt. As a matter of 

 fact, LinniEus and his students presented 

 a vast amount of material which should 

 be more fully recognized. In his treatise 

 entitled 'Om Vaxters Planteriog, grundet 

 p a Naturen, ' published in the first volume 

 of the transactions of the Royal Swedish 

 Academy in 1739, Linnteus outlines a num- 

 ber of the fundamental principles of phy- 

 togeography, citing numerous illustrations. 

 Ideas expressed here, as in his various 

 travels and better-known taxonomic works, 

 were worked over in detail by several of 

 his students, and published in the Am(Bni- 

 tates Academicm. Among the best of these 

 treatises were Biberg's 'CEconomia Na- 

 turae' (1749), Tornander's 'Herbationes 

 Upsalienses' (1753), Hedenberg's 'Sta- 

 tiones Plantarum' (1754), and Amanu's 



