NOTES ON RECENT RESEARCH. 



273 



2. Rock Moss formation. Wet or damp stone covered by Mosses such 

 •sls Grimmia sulcata, Bacomitrium, and Gymnomitrium species, &o. 



3. Humus-covered rocks. Arabis alpina, Saxifrages, Woodsia, 

 Allosorus crispus, &c. 



4. Grass and moors of the higher summits. Grass-formation. Nardus 

 stricta and Festuca >, ovina ; moors of Calluna vulgaris, Vaccinmm Vitis- 

 Idcea, with HcliantJiemion Chamcecistus, Carex hyperborea, and other 

 characteristic plants. 



5. Meadows of which some are richly manured, whilst others are of 

 natural herbage on stony and barren places. Characteristic plants are 

 Hieracium aurantiacum, &c, for the first, and H. nigresccns, &c, for the 

 second variety. 



6. Bush or shrub formations. Primus Padus v. petrcea, Rubus 

 Idceus, &c. ; Daphne Mezereum, Pinus montana v. Pumilio, Szc. 



7. Streamsides and spring swamps. Epilobium anagallidifolium, &c. 



8. Peat Mosses and moors. Empetrum nigrum, Carex limosa, &c. 



9. Overflowed Mosses, &c. Hypniun arcticum, Fontinalis, Lemanca 

 sudetica, &c, attached to the bed of the stream. 



The author also clearly points out the connections between the various 

 formations and the manner in which they overlap. — G. F. S.-F. 



Anatomy of Utricularia. 



Utrieularia, Researches on the Anatomy and Development 

 Of the Bladders of. By Hans Meierhofer (Flora, vol. xc. 1902, 

 pp. 84-113 ; pis. 2-10). — The anatomy of these curious organs is very fully 

 described. The development of the bladders was traced on the winter 

 shoots (propagula) and the growing points of the summer stem. Each may 

 be compared to a hand with the fingers apposed ; the hollowing of the 

 palm and the elevation of the sides make it cup-shaped ; and then the 

 distal half turns in and forms the valve, which closes against an 

 ingrowth from the wrist end. From development and comparison with 

 other organs in different species it is certainly a modified leaf-lobe, or in 

 a few cases a modified leaf. — M. H. 



Root Growth. 



Vicia Faba, Studies on Growth and Cell Division in the Root. 



By Blanche Gardner, B.S. (Contr. Bot. Lab. Phil., vol. ii., No. 2, p. 150 ; 

 1901 ; pi. 18). — These studies were originally undertaken to determine the 

 growth of the root under varied environmental conditions, but during the 

 progress of the work several additional interesting lines of study have 

 suggested themselves, as 



(a) Daily periodicity of growth in roots. 



(b) Relative growth of roots in different chemical solutions. 



(c) Cell division. 



A synopsis would require the use of the tables and three plates of 

 diagrams in illustration. — M. C. C. 



Electrical Test of Seed Vitality. 



Vitality of Seeds, Attempt to estimate the, by an Electrical 



Method. By Augustus D. Waller, M.D., F.R.S. (Ann. Bot. vol. xv., 



T 



