146 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. OL. XXI. No. 526. 



vegetation has sprung vip. The plants 

 thus far observed which are characteristic 

 of salt marshes and maritime situations are : 

 Euppia mnrifima, Triglochin maritima, 

 Scirpus rohuslus, Jnnciis Gerardi, Sali- 

 coniia Jicrbacea, Tissa maritima, Aster 

 suhulatus, Scnecio viscosits. Analyses of the 

 salt soils show saturated soils to contain 

 solutions varying in concentration from 

 .957 per cent to 7.32 per cent. A strongly 

 saline sample of soil bearing Tissa, Sali- 

 cornia, etc., yielded the following figures : 

 20 grams of fresh soil contained 6.56 grs. 

 water (by evaporation to constant weight 

 in laboratory at room temperature), .479 

 grs. water soluble salt, 2.489 grs. acid sol- 

 uble material, 1.896 grs. volatile material 

 and residual water, and 8.576 grs. solid 

 residue after ignition. 



Spermatogenesis and Behavior of Pollen 

 Tube in Some of the Cucurbitacece. J. E. 



KlRKWOOD. 



The forms studied were FevUlia cordi- 

 folia, Melothria pendula, Cucurbita Pepo, 

 Micrampelis lobata, Cyclanthera explodens. 



In the organogeny of the flower, the 

 sepals, where present, arise first, followed 

 by the petals on an inner circle and alter- 

 nating with the outer members. Stamens 

 appear about the same time as the petals, 

 with which they alternate in Fevillea. The 

 archesporial series of cells is hypodermal 

 in the outer angles of the anthers and 

 divides to furnish primary tapetal and 

 primary sporogenous cells. In Fevillea 

 the latter multiply by repeated divisions to 

 form a mass of pollen-mother-cells. Cyto- 

 plasmic phenomena in the mitosis of the 

 pollen-mother-cells of Micrampelis are in- 

 teresting as revealing the evolution of cer- 

 tain darkly staining masses, which are re- 

 garded as the extranuclear nucleoli of other 

 writers. These appear to arise, before the 

 dissolution of the nuclear membrane, from 

 kinoplasmic sti'ands of the cytoplasm. 



The pollen tube, in some of the forms 

 examined, requires about forty-six houi'S to 

 reach the embryo-sac. Its course is mostly 

 intercellular. Where starch is present in 

 the tube it was not found in the conducting 

 tissue and where found in the conducting 

 tissue none appeared in the tube. Evi- 

 dence points to the secretion of peptones in 

 the one case and of sugars in the others 

 as the directive stimulant, and to the en- 

 dosperm niTcleus as the center for the 

 elaboration of such stimulant in the em- 

 bryo-sac. 



Fasciation of Field Peas: F. II. Blodgett. 



Carelessness in selecting seed often re- 

 sults in direct loss in the quality or quan- 

 tity of a crop, but this loss is not always as 

 distinctly evident as was recently the case 

 in fields of peas grown for cannery pur- 

 poses, near Baltimore. The peas in ques- 

 tion were grown from seed secured through 

 a feed dealer, who knew nothing apparent- 

 ly of their pedigree, and who could not 

 guarantee the quality of the seed as the 

 regular seedsmen do. The observations 

 were made especially upon two fields of 

 approximately fifteen acres from which no 

 crop was harvested and probably not more 

 than five per cent, of a crop formed. The 

 lack of pedigree establishing good qualities 

 on the part of seed parents was made evi- 

 dent in the growth of the peas early in the 

 season. 



The soil conditions were a light sandy 

 loam abundantly enriched with city ma- 

 luu-e, upon which the large amount of 

 moisture and high temperatures worked 

 together to produce a very vigorous growth 

 of vine, but which from its very vigor, was 

 abnormal. The vine instead of setting 

 pods became faseiated, forming tubular or 

 flattened stems bearing large numbers of 

 flowers at the upper end, which set prac- 

 tically no seed. The stems had the appear- 

 ance of two tubes, the inner one tapering 



