330 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
plate is formed by the thickening of the filaments. The protoplasm 
on both sides of the cell-plate is comparatively light-coloured, but is 
denser and more deeply coloured near the nuclei. The second division 
of the nucleus does not partake of the special characters of the first 
mitosis; it differs from the ordinary mode of division of the vegeta- 
tive nuclei only in the reduction of the number of chromosomes. The 
peculiarities of the first division are probably connected with the sudden 
change in the number of chromosomes. 
Active Reserve- Albumin in Plants. — Herr 0. Loew * * * § justifies 
the term “ active albumin ” on the ground that there is very frequently 
found stored up in plants an albuminoid substance which is much less 
stable than ordinary albumen, and presents the greatest resemblance to 
the albumen of living protoplasm ; it is used up in the growth of the 
plant. He gives a long list of species in which it has been observed, 
mentioning the part of the plant in which it occurs. Its reactions and 
the modes of its detection are also given in detail. 
M. G. Daikuhara j - confirms, in general terms, the results obtained 
by Loew and Bokorny. 
Crystallisation of Cellulose.J — Mr. D. S. Johnson confirms to a 
certain extent the statement of Gilson, that crystal-like substances can 
be obtained from cellulose, both in flowering and flowerless plants ; but 
maintains, from their optical properties, that they are not crystals in the 
true sense of the term. 
(2) Other Cell-contents (including: Secretions). 
Different Forms of Chlorophyll^ — Pursuing his investigations on 
the occurrence of several chlorophylls in the same plant, M. A. Etard 
now describes two distinct forms of medicagophyll obtained from the 
lucerne, to which he gives the names medicagophyll a and medica- 
gcphyll /3, and assigns to them the formulas, C 28 H 45 N0 4 and C 42 H 63 N0 14 
respectively. 
Coniine in Sambucus nigra. || — Dr. G. De Sanctis demonstrates in 
the elder the presence of the alkaloid coniine, hitherto believed to be 
confined to the hemlock. The substance extracted resembled ordinary 
coniine in its chemical character and physiological effects. 
Pectase and Pectic Fermentation.^ — MM. G. Bertrand and A. 
Mallevre have studied the occurrence in plants of pectase, to which is 
due the coagulation of vegetable juices rich in pectin. They state that 
pectic fermentation cannot be produced by pectase alone, but only by 
the concurrent action of pectase and lime, though the calcium may be 
replaced by barium or strontium. The coagulum thus formed does not 
consist of pectic acid, but of the pectate of an alkaline earth. Pectase 
occurs in a state of solution in the juice of acid fruits and in the sap of 
the carrot. 
* Flora, lxxx. (1895) pp. 68-89. Cf. this Journal, 1893, p. 59. 
f Tom. cit., pp. 90-5. 
I Bot. Gazette, xx. (1895) pp. 23-8. Cf. this Journal, 1894, p. 215. 
§ Comptes Rendus, cxx. (1895) pp. 328-31. Cf. this Journal, 1894, p. 702. 
II Atti K. Accad. Lincei Roma (Rend.), ccxci. (1894) pp. 373-6. 
^ Journ. de Bot. (Morot), viii. (1894) pp. 390-6; ix. (1895) pp. 53-8. 
