SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
201 
in which, lithium citrate was applied at the top. 7. That pressure of mer- 
cury does not exert any very marked influence on the rapidity of flow, in 
the one experiment made with a pressure of 11053 grammes of mercury. 
Respiration in Plants. —This is not the process by which plants decompose- 
the carbonic acid of the air — a fact that was pointed out many years ago by 
Bernard. However, it has recently been explained by M. Corenwinder, of 
France, a well-known physiological botanist, who points out, from experi- 
ments on the maple and the lilac, that true respiration is always going on 
in plants, although it may be concealed by the greater activity of the true 
digestive process by which oxygen is given off. 
What is Mace? — Dr. Asa Gray tells us, in “ Silliman’s American Journal,” 
(Feb.) that the mace of nutmeg, once taken as the type of an arillus , was 
a good while ago distinguished as an arillode , or false aril, by Planchon, on, 
finding that it developed from the micropyle, while a true aril is a growth 
from the hilum or summit of the funiculus. Hooker and Thomson’s state- 
ment 4 that the mace develops from both the micropyle and the hilium has 
been confirmed by Baillon (“ Comptes Rendus,” 78, p. 779, abstracted in 
“ Rev. Bibliogr.” of Bull. Bot. Soc. France, l.c.) The consequence is, that 
the distinctions between arillus and arillode, caruncle and strophiole, become 
not exactly superfluous, but systematically unimportant. 
The Red-rot of Pines. — The “Academy ” for March 6, giving an abstract 
of the contents of the “Botanische Zeitung,” states that in the number for 
January 15 there is a brief report of the meeting of the Brandenburg 
Botanical Society, October 30, 1874. Professor Hartig spoke of the symp- 
toms of decay exhibited by living forest trees. The “ red-rot ” (Rothfaule) 
of pines is caused by the penetration and diffusion of the mycelium of a 
fungus Trametes Pini, Fr., in the heart-wood, whose reproductive parts 
appear on the outer surface of the branches, especially in branch holes. The 
spores produced fall on the exposed surface of newly broken off branches, 
and thus it may soon become widely spread. The various species at- 
tacking other common forest trees, which colour the wood red, green, 
brown, &c., were also considered. 
CHEMISTRY. 
Granulated Iron in the Washing of Bottles. — There has been lately a 
paper published by M. Fordos on this subject. He points out the danger- 
of using leaden shot in cleansing bottles intended to contain beverages, 
medicines, &c. In their stead he recommends fragments of iron obtained by 
clipping up iron wire, Nos. 16, 17, and 18 giving a quality suitable for phials, 
and No. 22 for wine bottles. These iron granules have been used on a 
large scale with very satisfactory results. If there is any fear of injuring 
the colour of choice white wines, granulated tin may be used. 
The Corrosion of Leaden Hot-water Cisterns. — At a recent meeting 
of the Manchester Philosophical Society, Professor II. E. Roscoe read 
a paper on the “ Corrosion of Leaden Hot-water Cisterns.” He said that 
“ as the question of the occurrence of lead in town water has been brought 
