IOO THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vou. XXXII. 
described by Kramer and Sorauer in 1891-92, and more recently by 
Busse.? The root shrivels in places, becomes very black, and finally 
breaks down here and there with the formation of a sticky exudate 
composed of bacteria. Cultures from the interior of blackened roots 
remained sterile. Cultures from the syrupy exudate yielded an 
organism resembling, so far as tested, that described by Busse as the 
cause of the disease. It is yet too early, however, to say whether 
the organism isolated is identical with Bacz//us bete Busse, or whether 
it is in any sense a true parasite. It appears worth mentioning in as 
much as it seems to be rather common, and destroys cane sugar and 
grape sugar with the formation of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and an 
acid. Possibly this is one of the organisms which has given trouble 
to the chemists in sugar diffusion work, inverting the cane sugar and 
liberating gases (see Journ. Soc. Chem. Ind., vol. xiv, p. 876). Cuk 
tures on steamed and raw beets, on steamed potato, and in fermenta- 
tion tubes were exhibited. On steamed slices of sugar beet there is 
a copious production of gas, which, owing to the viscidity of the bac- 
terial layer, remains for a considerable time imprisoned in little 
blisters. 
Dr. W. C. Sturcis: On Some Aspects of Vegetable Pathology and 
the Conditions which Influence the Spread of Plant Diseases. Paper 
withdrawn. 
O. F. Cook and Davip G. FAIRCHILD: Fungus Gardening as 
Practiced by the Termites. Read by title. 
Dr. W. P. Wilson: On the Possibility of Securing Botanical and 
Other Material for Original Research through the Philadelphia 
Museums. Read by title. 
H. J. WEBBER: Are Blepharoplasts Distinct from Centrosomes? 
After discussing our present understanding of the structure and 
functions of the centrosome, the speaker pointed out that blepharo- 
plasts are special organs of the spermatic cells of Zamia and Ginkgo, 
which, in certain stages of their development, somewhat resemble 
centrosomes. The presence of similar organs in the spermatic cells 
of certain Filicinez and Equisetinee have also been recently de- 
scribed by Belajeff. In Zamia and Ginkgo the blepharoplasts arise 
de novo in the cytoplasm of the generative cells and are located on 
opposite sides of the nucleus, about midway between the nuclear 
membrane and cell wall. They increase rapidly in size and are at 
1 Zeit. f. Phlanzenkr., Ba. vii, p. 65. 
