Febeuaby 23, 1900.] 



SCm'NCE. 



301 



tional when cuttings of the ring-fasciation 

 are planted. The transverse section shows 

 two bundle-systems, an outer normal one, 

 and an inner surrounding the cavity with 

 its normal phloem facing the cavity. The 

 hollow is bounded by epidermis and cortex. 

 Internal phloem (bicollateral structure) is 

 a marked feature of both internal and ex- 

 ternal bundle-systems of the ring-fasciated 

 stem, as it is of the normal stem. The two 

 bundle-systems of the anomalous speci- 

 mens are entirely separate, but merge into 

 common ring-shaped apical meristem. To- 

 ward the root the cavity tapers to a close, 

 leaving a ring of bundles ; these dwindle 

 away one by one, the phloem elements per- 

 sisting longest. The writer's observations 

 agree essentially with similar ones of de 

 Vries and Nessler ; he also considers Mas- 

 ters' ' tubular stem of Sempervivum ' and 

 Qualch's ' fasciated sweet-pea ' as probable 

 cases of ring-fasciation. 



Leaf Scorch of the Sugar Beet : Me. F. C. 

 Stewart, New York Experiment Sta- 

 tion. 



During August, 1899, some fields of sugar 

 beets in Central New York were severely 

 injured by sudden scorching of the foliage 

 due to excessive transpiration. The foliage, 

 wholly or in part, turned black and died. 

 A majority of the aifected plants recovered 

 and made a second growth, but some were 

 killed outright. The dead roots showed 

 internal browning around the circumference 

 and dark colored, raised, somewhat V- 

 shaped areas on- the surface. Later in the 

 season the raised surface areas became af- 

 fected with dry rot and the dead tissue was 

 eaten away by millipedes, leaving shallow 

 cavities resembling scab spots. It has 

 been proved by an inoculation experiment 

 that the internal browning is not caused 

 by parasitic organisms. All affected beets 

 were low in sugar content. 



This paper has been published in New 



York Agricultural Experiment Station 

 Bulletin, No. 162. 



Distribution of red color in vegetative parts in 

 the New England flora : Miss F. Grace 

 Smith, Smith College. (By invitation.) 

 The author called attention to the various 

 and more or less conflicting views as to the 

 meaning of the presence of red color in 

 vegetative parts of plants. In order to test 

 these theories, observations were made to 

 determine how many plants in the New 

 England flora show the red color. Careful 

 account was taken of the exact structural 

 part in which the color occurs, and of the 

 relation of the position of the color to ex- 

 ternal conditions of light, dryness, etc. 

 The results were reduced to percentages 

 and showed that none of the existent 

 theories will explain the distribution of the 

 color in our vegetation. The conclusion is 

 drawn that either the red color must have 

 several different reasons for being, or else it 

 has some significance to which we as yet 

 have no clue. The studies are to be con- 

 tinued. 



On the morphology of certain plants from the 

 Devonian of Europe and America : Pro- 

 FESSOR D. P. Penhallow, McGill Uni- 

 versity. 



The author drew attention in particular 

 to two types of plants which had been the 

 subject of investigation for a number of 

 years. 



In 1831 Fleming described certain inter- 

 esting and peculiar fossils from the De- 

 vonian of Scotland under the name of Parka 

 decipiens, and subsequently Hugh Miller 

 gave them much consideration in his Old 

 Red Sandstone. Since that time they have 

 excited the interest of paleontologists at 

 various times, but always with reference to 

 the eggs or spawn of some animal form of 

 life. In 1891 they were first clearly proved 

 to be of plant origin by Dawson and Pen- 

 hallow, who, however, were unable to 



