ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
649 
intermediate position between globulin and albumose. Myosin is simply 
a calcium-compound of vitelliu. New kinds of albuminoids have often 
been erroneously stated to occur in plants, the reactions being due to a 
mixture of other substances which appear to alter the general characters 
of the albuminoids. 
Composition of Albuminoids.*' — According to M. E. Fleurens, gluten 
and legumin may be associated together as substances with the general 
formula C n H 2n N 2 0 5 ; while albuminoids belonging to the animal kingdom 
have the composition C n H 2)l N 2 0 4 . 
Xanthophyll and Phyllocyanic Acid.f — Prof. A. Tschirch has come 
to the conclusion that chlorophyll is a compound of phyllocyanic acid. 
The spectrum of the yellow pigment of plants shows that xanthophyll 
has three, not two bands. The treatment of Umbelliferm with chloro- 
form in an alkaline solution produces a very unstable substance with a 
spectrum resembling that of chlorophyll. 
Laccase in Plants. J — M. G. Bertrand has detected the presence of 
this substance in a number of plants, — in the root, stem, leaves, and 
fruit, and especially in the latex. Laccase resembles the diastatic fer- 
ments in its properties, except that, instead of hydrolysing, it incites 
direct oxidation. 
Colouring Matter of Cucurbita Pepo.§ — Dr. H. Bitter Schrotter v. 
Kristelli has investigated the nature and the distribution of the colour- 
ing matter in the pericarp of highly coloured varieties of the pumpkin, 
and finds it located to a small extent in the palisade cells, to a much 
larger extent in the underlying parenchymatous layers, in both a crystal- 
line and non-crystalline form. When separated in a pure state, the 
chemical reactions show that it is a lipoxanthin, and identical with 
carotin. 
Toxic Principle of Acokanthera.|j — Dr. T. B. Fraser and Dr. J. 
Tillie have investigated the nature of the poison used for smearing 
arrows in Somali-land. It is obtained from the wood of Acokanthera 
ScJiimperi (Apocynaceae) and probably from other species of the genus. 
It contains a crystallisable active glucosidal principle, with the formula 
C 3 oH 48 Oi 3 . The action of the poison on the cardiac organs corre- 
sponds almost entirely with that of the poison obtained from Stro- 
phanthus. 
Secretion of the Fruit of Peltandra.1T — Miss J. A. Keller finds the 
leaves of young seedlings of Peltandra undulata (Araceas) to be immersed 
in a voluminous jelly-like secretion. Examination of the mature plant 
showed that this secretion was derived from the fruit, where it appears 
to be formed in glandular trichomes, situated on a basal thickening of 
the pericarp. 
* Comptes Kendus, cxxi. (1895) pp. 216-9. Cf. this Journal, 1894, p. 217. 
f SB. Yers. Deutsch. Naturf. u. Aerzte, 1894. See Bot. Centralbl., lx. (1894) 
p. 201. 
X Comptes Bendus, cxx. (1895) pp. 266-9; cxxi. (1895) pp. 166-8. 
§ Verhandl. K. K. Zool.-Bot. Gesell. Wien, xlv. (1895) pp. 298-302. 
|| Proc. Boy. Soc., lviii. (1895) pp. 70-4. 
•f Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, pp. 287-90. 
