1918] CURRENT LITERATURE 11g 
diversity of types, including bits of forests of the southern beech, Nothofagus 
Cliffortioides, various scrub associations, and low tussock grassland, with 
transitions through reed and sedge swamp to open water. Of these the tussock 
grassland is by far the most important and interesting, representing as it does 
a montane association covering some 6,000,000 acres ranging from an altitude 
of 1000 to 3000 ft. It is dominated by the two smaller tussock grasses, Poa 
caespitosa and Festuca nova-zealandiae, in many places changed by burning 
and sheep grazing so as to permit the invasion of other grasses and herbs. 
The association not only presents many interesting ecological problems, but 
its proper utilization is a matter of great economic importance,” since one- 
seventh of the occupied land of New Zealand is covered with this vegetation. 
At present it is largely given over to sheep grazing, but without producing satis- 
factory returns.—Gero. D. FULLER. 
Anatomy of Gnetum moluccense.—LA RiviiRE?? has described the 
structure of a single branch of Gnetum moluccense. The greater part of the 
paper is devoted to a study of the accessory (secondary) steles outside of and 
concentric with the first stele. The remarkable conclusion is reached that they 
originate in the nodes from ramifications of bundles passing to the lateral 
branches and then grow downward (toward the base of the stem), the cambiums 
appearing at lower and lower levels in the inner cortex. The difficulties in 
this conception, that the direction of their growth is the reverse of the usual 
one, will present themselves to both morphologists and physiologists. Com- 
munications of the accessory steles with each other and with the central one, 
originally discovered by BERTRAND but overlooked by all later workers, are 
carefully traced and appear to be quite numerous. The different tissues of 
the whole stem are briefly described, but according to the author’s observa- 
tions present no features of outstanding morphological significance. This is 
perhaps the reason that no conclusions are mentioned in regard to the affinities 
of Gnetales with either gymnosperms or angiosperms.—W. P. THompPson. 
Nitrogen determination.—Several years ago Foi1n modified the Kjeldah 1 
method of determining nitrogen so that small quantities could be determined 
with sufficient accuracy. Davis,*4 who has used this modified method exten- 
sively for determination of nitrogen in small quantities of plant materials, 
reports that it is specially good for demonstrating proteolytic changes, for 
determination of nitrogen in minute plant sections or organs, and the effects 
of various factors upon the nitrogen content of plant tissues. The method is 
* CocKAYNE, A. H., Some economic considerations concerning montane tussock 
grassland. Ibid. 48:154-165. 1916. 
3 La Rivitre, Henrtette C. C., Sur l’anatomie et l’epaississement des tiges du 
Gnetum moluccense Karst. Ann. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg 30:32-58. pls. 4-12. 1916. 
*4 Davis, A. R., A note on the adaptability of the Folin micro-Kjeldahl apparatus 
for plant work. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 2:407-412. 1916. 
