NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



309 



from one to another solely by mosquitos of the genus Anopheles. Yellow 

 fever in like manner is carried by the mosquito Stegomyia calopus 

 (=Culex fasciatus), and this disease again claims many victims in the 

 United States. The house-fly Howard proposes to call the " typhoid 

 fly " in order to draw popular attention to the fact that this fly is a very 

 frequent cause of the spread of typhoid fever and other diseases. 

 The best means of dealing with the pests is also treated upon. — F. J. C. 



Lagerstroemia indica (Die Gart., p. 152 ; March 27, 1909).— This 

 beautiful shrub, which is invariably hardy in England and flowers annually, 

 is treated in the more rigorous climate of Germany as a cool greenhouse 

 plant, grown in pots or tubs during the summer out of doors, in winter 

 indoors. It flowers during the late summer. The flowers are rosy red 

 and the leaves are small, not unlike those of the large-leaved myrtle. 



G. B. 



Lantanas, Choice. By G. T. Grignan (Bev. Hort., May 1, 1909, 

 pp. 204-226 ; plate and 2 figs). — An interesting article, with descriptive 

 list of twelve of the best novelties. The plate represents a dwarf section, 

 'Bruant;' 'Rayon d'Or,' brilliant yellow; 'Radiation,' deep copper 

 orange; and 'Pictavi,' a hybrid between Lantana Sellowiana and the 

 varieties of commerce, which has proved hardy and is very distinct ; 

 flowers, a few bright yellow, the majority bright magenta. — C. T. D. 



Light sensitiveness. By W. W. Lepeschkin (Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 

 vol. xxiv. Abth. 1, Heft 3, pp. 808-356 ; April 1909). The movements of 

 the pulvinus of Mimosa and of the leaflet stalks of Phaseolus vulgaris and 

 Desmodium gyrans have been again investigated. The author's experi- 

 ments were very ingenious, and should be consulted by those interested 

 in this special subject. His chief point seems to be that darkness affects 

 the permeability of the protoplasmic membrane, which will bring about 

 an alteration in the turgor, and therefore in the shape of the pulvinus or 

 petiolule.— G. F. S.-F. 



Maple Mites. By P. J. Parrot (Jour. Econ. Entom. vol. i. 5, p. 

 311 ; October 1908). — Fifteen species of mites have been found on various 

 species of Acer in the States. Descriptions of two which form galls on 

 maple are given, viz. Phyllocoptes aceris-crumena Riley and P. quadripes 

 Shimer. — F. J. C. 



Marsh Plants. By Paul Bommersheim (Beih. Bot. Centralbl. vol. xxiv. 

 Abth. 2, Heft 3, pp. 504-511 ; July 1909). — This paper contains some 

 interesting observations on reed thickets and "half-marsh" plants. 

 The author collected leaves of the common nettle from a moderately 

 wet situation, from a reed bed, and from a dry place, and measured the 

 upper surface of ten leaves from each habitat. In plants from the reeds 

 this amounted to 15 square centimetres, from the dry habitat 28 square 

 centimetres, and from an ordinary position 37'5 square centimetres. 

 Those from the reeds transpired least. In reed-beds the air being 

 generally damp there is a distinct probability of fungus infection, and 

 he details the methods of averting this danger. He found that certain 



