648 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
BOTANY. 
A. GENERAL, including the Anatomy and Physiology 
of the Phanerogamia. 
a. Anatomy. 
(1) Cell-structure and Protoplasm. 
Structure of Vegetable Protoplasm.* — Prof. C. Mikosch has 
examined the structure of the protoplasm in the epidermal and paren- 
chymatous cells of Sedurn , Sempervivum, and Malva. In the living 
condition the cytoplasm appears to he homogeneous, without special 
differentiation. After lying some time in water, an apparently reticulate 
structure is formed, caused by the action of the water. If sections from 
the living object are fixed in 1-1 * 5 per cent, nitric acid, washed, and 
stained with haematoxylin, the cytoplasm is seen to be composed of 
threads and granules. The threads are either straight or wavy, and 
their framework may be either homogeneous or granular. Both these 
elements, as well as the nucleus and leucoplasts, are imbedded in a soft 
matrix, which does not stain. 
Chromatophily of the Nucleus. f — Herr F. Rosen has studied the 
chromatic behaviour of the cell-nucleus, especially in meri stem-cells. 
In the root of the hyacinth he finds the nuclei to be larger and more 
numerous in the meristem-cells than in the permanent tissue, and 
also to be richer in cyanophilous substance. The amount of nuclear 
substance is, as elsewhere, in inverse proportion to the number of nuclei. 
In the apex of the root of Phaseolus , Pisum , and Zea the large nucleoles 
of the meristem-cells are not permanent ; their absorption takes place 
very slowly during karyokinesis, so that they can frequently still be 
detected while the daughter-nuclei are being formed. But the nucleoles 
of the daughter-nuclei are undoubtedly new formations, being formed 
from the substances which pass out of the absorbed nucleoles of the 
mother-nucleus into the cytoplasm. 
Derivatives of Cellulose.J — According to Messrs. C. J. Cross, C. J. 
Bevan, and C. Beadle, the formation of wood (in jute) is connected with 
the production of oxidised derivatives of cellulose. The modified cellu- 
lose was separated from the unchanged cellulose, and showed a percentage 
of 42—13 of C and 6 of H ; it is termed by the authors /3-cellulose, and 
differs from a-cellulose in containing methoxyl-groups. This oxycellu- 
lose was found to be a constant constituent of jute-fibre, in addition to 
about 25 per cent, of non-cellulose substances (lignon). 
(2) Other Cell-contents (including Secretions). 
Vegetable Albuminoids.§ — Vitellin occurs abundantly, according to 
Herr W. Palladin, in the seeds of the yellow lupin ; it occupies an 
* SB. Vers. Deutsch. Naturf. u. Aerzte, 1894. See Bot. Centralbl., lx. (1894) p. 198. 
t JB. Schles. Gesell. Vaterl. Cultur, 1894, 8 pp. See Bot. Centralbl., lx. (1894) 
p. 115. 
X Ber. Deutsch. Chem. Gesell., xxvi. pp. 2520-33. See Bot. Centralbl., lxiii. 
(1895) p. 69. 
§ Zeitschr. f. Biologie, 1894, pp. 191-202. See Bot. Centralbl., lxiii. (1895) p. 67. 
