600 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
De Toni’s Sylloge Algarum. — The third section of volume ii. of 
this most useful publication is entirely devoted to the Cryptoraphideie, 
an order of Diatoms, which are divided into thirteen families, the Rliizo- 
solenaceae, Isthmiaceae, Hemiaulidaceae, Biddulphiaceag, Chaetoceraceae, 
Thaumatodiscaceae, Rutilariaceae, Eupodiscaceae, Xanthiopyxidacefe, Cos- 
cinodiscacem, MelosiraceaB, Heliopeltaceae, and Asterolampraceae. Among 
the larger genera are Triceratium , 325 sp., Aulacodiscus 102, Coscinodis - 
cus 302, Actinoptychus 111. A “ Repertorium Geographico-polyglottum 
in usum Sylloges Algarum omnium ” is appended, and an Index to the 
genera and species of Diatoms. 
Fucoides.* — Mr. J. F. James enumerates all the very numerous 
organisms that have been described as species of this genus of Fossil 
Algae. He proposes to limit the genus to Brongniart’s original species 
F. serratus. The remaining five species described by Brongniart he 
places in a distinct genus Gigartinites (sub-genus Brongn.). Of the re- 
maining structures which have been described as species of Fucoides, 
many are now referred to totally different genera of Algae, and others to 
Vascular Cryptogams, while a few are inorganic. 
Fungi. 
Pigments of Fungi.f — Pursuing his investigations into the nature 
of the pigments of the lower plants and animals, Prof. W. Zopf finds 
substances of the nature of carotin very commonly present in the Hypo- 
creaceae ; not unfrequently two different carotins, a red and a yellow 
one, occur together. The red carotin of Polystigma rubram and Nectria 
cinnabarina are called respectively “ polystigmin,” and “ nectriin.” In 
Ditiola radicata (Tremellineae), a yellow carotin was found. Polyporus 
sanguineus contains three distinct pigments ; while in Cortinarius cinna- 
barinus no less than four were detected. From 0. cinnamomeus an acid 
was separated which is termed by Zopf “ cortinaric acid.” 
Erysiphea-like Fructification in the Saprolegniaceae.J — Prof. W. 
Zopf describes a new species of Dictyuchus , which he names D. carpo- 
phorus , which forms an oosporange-fructification enclosed on all sides, 
in which he traces a resemblance to the ascus of Podosphsera. In this 
species zoosporanges are produced on the same individual. 
Sporanges of Thamnidium elegans.§ — Herr J. Bachmann finds 
numerous transitional stages between the extreme forms which are 
known to exist in the sporanges of Thamnidium elegans , viz. a single 
large terminal sporange, with a distinct columel, numerous spores, and a 
membrane capable of swelling, and sporangioles with but few spores, no 
columel, and a membrane not capable of swelling, borne on dichotomous 
branches. The formation of the different kinds of sporange is entirely 
dependent on the nature of the nutriment. The author distinguishes 
the following six types : — (1) Sporanges terminal : the dichotomous 
branches greatly divided ; the sporangioles appear early and have fewer 
* Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., xvi. (1893) pp. 62-81 (3 pis.). 
t Beitr. z. Phys. u. Morph, niederer Organismen (Zopf), Heft 3 (1893) pp. 26-47, 
60-74 (4 figs). Cf. this Journal, 1893, p. 496. 
X Beitr. z. Phy3. u. Morph, niedeier Organismen (Zopf), Heft 3 (1893) pp. 48-59 
(2 pis.). " § Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xii. (1894) pp. 93-6. 
