194 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



parts dead ; (c) buds opened and showed flower, but the reproductive 

 organs — stamens and pistil — were dead in an embryonic condition ; {d) 

 buds developed normally except the pistil, which was either entirely dead 

 or parts of it — e.g. the ovules — had been killed. In such cases the pro- 

 duction of fruit was impossible. It is interesting to note how the outer 

 parts resisted the frost, which penetrated and killed the inner reproductive 

 portion of the flower. Similar effects of frost are found on Apricot, 

 Peach, and Strawberry. In the latter crop it is not uncommon to have 

 a perfect show of flower, yet the fruit remains hard and useless. These 

 effects of late frosts are doubtless responsible for damage which is put 

 down to the action of other agents. For instance, Prof. Thurgau has 

 shown in this and previous papers that epidemics of the fruit-rot (Monilia) 

 on various fruit trees are primarily due to injuries by frost, which prepare 

 the way for the fungus. In the case of Apple and Pear, the author 

 describes how spring frosts may cause a brown discolouration of the pith 

 in or immediately below the buds, without leaving any evidence of damage 

 to parts outside the pith. As the buds develop the injury to the pith 

 becomes more or less evident, and in the case of flower-buds the repro- 

 ductive parts suffer first. A case is figured where the flower has been 

 complete except the ovary and ovules, which remained dead in the condi- 

 tion they were at the time of March frost ; the fruit developed apparently 

 in the usual way, but it contained no seeds, and in shape was less rounded 

 than healthy fruits. — W. G. S. 



Fungoid Disease. 



Fungoid Disease, a New. F. C. Stewart, Botanist at the New 

 York Agricultural Station, Geneva, describes and figures (Bull. 179) 

 a fungus new to science that attacks the cultivated Snapdragon (Antir- 

 rhinum majus, L.), causing the formation of elliptical or circular sunken 

 spots on the skin and leaves of the plant. The disease is called 

 anthracnose, and the fungus has been named Colletotriclmm antirrhini. 

 Experimental plants grown in a house side by side with badly diseased 

 specimens were kept free from the disease by spraying once a week with 

 Bordeaux Mixture. It is recommended to give plants subject to this 

 disease and grown indoors plenty of air, and to keep the foliage as dry as 

 possible. In the case of propagation by cuttings, it is further recom- 

 mended to select cuttings from healthy plants only, as the disease may be 

 transmitted to new generations by means of already infected shoots. It 

 is improbable, however, that the disease can be transmitted by seeds. 



D. H. 



Glucosides and Fungi. 



Glucosides and Fungi (Bei. Bot. Cent. abt. ii. bd. 10, ht. 1, pp. 

 1-50). — Herr Andre Brunstein gives a detailed account, with sixteen 

 tables, of the action of fourteen fungi, chiefly Aspergillus spp. and Mucor 

 on selected glucosides. He finds as a general result that fungi are able 

 to decompose helicin, salicin, amygdalin, and especially coniferin solu- 

 tions, and that these bodies break up into glucoses and benzol derivatives. 

 The glucose is then utilised by the fungus, but the benzol derivatives were 



