112 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and energetic provided the currents are not so strong as to injure the 

 tissues. The author cannot confirm Pollacci's observation that even in 

 the dark, electrical stimulation will produce assimilation. 



His own experiments were carried out with plants of Elodea placed 

 in water. "When the current passes from the base to the tip, assimilation 

 is favoured, but when it passes in the reverse manner, the current has an 

 injurious effect. 



When the current passes through the water only, it has also a favour- 

 able effect, however the plant is placed (parallel to or at right angles to 

 the stream lines), except when passing from the tip to the base, when it 

 is decidedly injurious. It is apparently comparatively easy to electrocute 

 Elodea. With a sufficiently weak current the stimulation of assimilation 

 can be carried on indefinitely. — G. F. S.-E. 



Encephalartos Barteri (Bot. Mag. tab. 8232).— Nat. ord. Cyca- 

 daceae ; tribe Enceplialarteae ; West Tropical Africa. Stem short, 1 foot 

 high, 9 inches diameter. Leaves 3^-5^ feet long ; male cone pale, 

 narrow-cylindric, 5-9 inches long ; female cone dark olive, 8 inches long ; 

 seeds with crimson testa. — G. H. 



Endosperm of some Graminaceae, The Vitality and Self- 

 digestion Of. By I). Bruschi [Ann. Bot., xxii., July 1908. pp. 419-463). 

 — The paper is an abstract of the author's previous work on the subject 

 which has been published in Italian journals. It is shown that the starchy 

 endosperm of maize, barley, wheat, and rye can digest itself in the absence 

 of the scutellum and other parts of the embryo, though to a very different 

 degree. The self-emptying can go on in the absence of any vitality in 

 the amyliferous cells, because the starch hydrolysis is accelerated by a 

 strong amylose which arises from a pro-enzyme existing in the endosperm 

 of the resting seed, and becomes active even though every trace of vitality 

 has been removed from the entire endosperm. Vitality is not, however, 

 wholly denied to the endosperm cells. It is possessed by the aleurone 

 cells at the periphery of the endosperm and also in one or two sub- 

 aleuronic layers, whence it lessens by degrees till it completely disappears 

 towards the middle of the endosperm. — A. D. C. 



Enzymes. By Professor Kohl of Marburg (Beih. Bot. Centralbl. xxiii. 

 l te Abth. Heft 1, pp. 64b-64o). — Professor Kohl of Marburg has an important 

 paper on the reverse working of various enzymes and on the effect of 

 external factors on enzymes such as invertase and maltase to which 

 reference should be made in the original. — G. F. S.-E. 



Eranthemum Wattii (Bot. Mag. tab. 8239).— Nat. ord. Acanthaccac ; 

 tribe Bucllieae ; North India. Perennial herb ; leaves ovate, 2J-4 inches 

 long ; spikes paniculate ; flowers 1 inch diameter, purple. — G. H. 



Eria rhynehostyloides (Bot. Mag. tab. 8234).— Nat. ord. Orchidia* 

 ceae ; tribe Epidendrcae ; Java. Epiphyte ; leaves 6 inches to 1 foot 

 long ; flowers whitish with a purple column, in a dense raceme, 7 inches 

 long. — G. H. 



