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BOTANICAL GAZETTE 



imperfect aeration does not occur under conditions of normal respiration. 

 It was at first assumed that alcohol was an intermediate product in normal 

 respiration, but did not accumulate because it was utilized as soon as formed. 

 Later, Godlewski suggested that the alcohol produced under anaerobic con- 

 ditions is a secondary product which does not occur among the intermediate 

 products of respiration under normal conditions. With a view of throwing 

 some light on this problem, Zaleski 6 investigated the utilization of alcohol 

 by higher plants. Etiolated seedlings of Vicia Faba and Lupinus albus and 

 seeds of Medicago and wheat were floated for 24-48 hours in solutions con- 

 taining 1 per cent of alcohol, or were kept for a time under anaerobic condi- 

 tions. Thereupon, the alcohol was determined in one portion of the plants 

 immediately and in the other after 24 hours, during which loss of alcohol by 

 evaporation was prevented. The experiments showed that 27-72 per cent of 

 the absorbed alcohol disappeared from the plants in the course of 24 hours. 

 These experiments show that higher plants are capable of oxidizing alcohol 

 when it is present in their tissues, but, as the author points out, it does not 

 necessarily follow that alcohol is actually an intermediate product in normal 

 respiration— H. Hasselbring. 



in the higher plants is well known, but recent investigations indicate that it 

 may be a very common phenomenon. Beer and Mrs. Arber 7 have been mak- 

 ing an extensive study of the subject, and have concluded that in the cortical 

 and medullary parenchyma of stems there is a stage between the meristematic 

 and mature conditions in which each cell characteristically contains more than 

 one nucleus. This stage may be prolonged, or it may be so brief as to be easily 

 overlooked. They are inclined to believe that this binucleate or multinucleate 



Miss Prankerd 8 has investigated a wide range of forms, and finds that 

 such cells (usually binucleate) occur in different tissues of various young organs, 

 and suggests that their occurrence is characteristic of regions of active growth. 

 In some cases these nuclei are probably produced by amitosis, followed by wall 

 formation, and it is maintained that these processes are a means of tissue forma- 

 tion in rapidly growing organs— J. M. C. 



Phylogeny of Filicales.— In continuing his studies of the phylogeny of 

 Filicales, Bower" has investigated Cheiropleuria biscupis, a monotypic fern 



6 Zaleski, W-, Uber die Alkoholoxydation durch die Samenpflanzen. Biochem. 

 Zeitschr. 69:289-293. 1915. 



7 Beer, Rudolf, and Arber, Agnes, On the occurrence of binucleate and mul- 

 tinucleate cells in growing tissues. Ann. Botany 29:597, 598. 1915. 



8 Prankerd, T. L., Notes on the occurrence of multinucleate cells. Ann. Botany 

 29:599-604. figs. 8. 1915. 



» Bower, F. O., Studies in the phylogeny of the Filicales. V. Cheiropleuria 

 bicuspis (Bl.) Presl, and certain other related ferns. Ann. Botany 29:495-529- ph- 



