436 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 91. 



develop under conditions of functional in- 

 activity in light and in darkness. The 

 amount of development or existence which 

 ■can be carried on by the leaves of any of these 

 species will depend on the ' availability ' of 

 the stored food. Ordinarily the leaf de- 

 pends on its own activity for a portion of 

 the material used for constructive pur- 

 poses. Many of the leaves die when inac- 

 tive in light, due to an insufficient food sup- 

 ply, and the disintegration of the chlorophyll 

 is a result not a cause of the death. 



The removal of concurrent members has 

 a different effect on the remaining member 

 when in light from that in darkness, a fact 

 due in part to the intervention of the regu- 

 latory processes attendant on this condition. 



In a series of experiments in my own 

 laboratory, in which specimens of Arisanna 

 triphyllum, Trillium erectum and T. recur- 

 vatum were subjected to a continuous spray 

 of water for a period of 10 to 20 days, the 

 author was able to produce the characters 

 obtained by Jungner and also the additional 

 one of diminution of the marginal teeth and 

 deepening of the furrows above the ribs. 

 In leaves of Ariscema the laminae assumed 

 an upwardly convexed form not to be con- 

 fused with the rolling and twisting of leaves 

 when subjected to abnormally cold water, 

 and which is undoubtedly a new rainfall 

 character. 



It was found that the glossy appearance 

 of the ' rain ' leaves was due to the flatten- 

 ing of the outwardly convexed papillose 

 ends of the epidermal cells of the upper 

 side of the lamina, with a possibility of ac- 

 companying chemical changes in the char- 

 acter of the outer walls. 



A comparative study of the development of some 

 anthracnoses in artificial cidtures: By Ber- 

 tha Stoneman. 



Seven different species of Gloeosporium 

 and Calletotrichum and the allied genera Ver- 

 micidaria and Volutella present in artificial 



cultures distinct characters varying to a cer- 

 tain extent with varying conditions of light, 

 temperature and nutrient media. Under 

 uniform conditions of growth the characters 

 have been found sufficient!}^ constant to 

 be of value in distinguishing or uniting 

 species whose similarity in morphological 

 structure or variations resulting from the 

 character of the host would render their 

 systematic position uncertain. Of about 

 thirty species studied, five (three Col- 

 letotrichum and 2 Gloeosporium), have been 

 definitely connected with an ascigerous 

 form ; the transition from one stage to the 

 other occurring without the intervention of 

 a pycnidial stage. The ascigerous stages of 

 each, two of which have been found as 

 saprophytes in nature, bear a close resem- 

 blance to each other, and would fall in a 

 genus near Gnomomella. 



The habitats of the rarer ferns of Alabama : By 



L. M. Under WOOD. 



A brief account of visits to Winston 

 county, the type locality of Trichomanes pe- 

 tersii, was given, with some account of the 

 habit of growth of that rare fern ; also to 

 Havana Glen, where Asplenium ebenoides 

 grows in considerable abundance. This 

 fern, which has been regarded as a hybrid, 

 is shown by its habit to be a species entirely 

 distinct from either of its supposed parents. 

 The Southern fern-ally for a long time con- 

 sidered as a variety of Botrychium ternatum, 

 is shown to be an entirely distinct species 

 in form, habit and time of producing spores 

 as originally shown by Lamarck. 



Notes on the allies of the sessile Trillium: By 



L. M. Underwood. 



Several species have been confused under 

 this group name. Even Linnseus confused 

 two species in the original description of 

 Trillium sessile. One of these, an Alabama 

 species figured by Catesby, was exhibited 

 and attention was called to its value as an 

 ornamental plant. 



