78 
Journal of Mycology 
[Vol. 9 
Erwin F. Smith, issued Jan. 17, 1903. It is a series of photo¬ 
micrographs, accompanied by an explanatory text. The 13 ad¬ 
mirable plates are reproduced by the Heliotype Co., of Boston. 
It is claimed that the Bacterium (Pseudomonas campestris) is 
capable not only of destroying the middle lamellae, but also of 
slowly dissolving the cell wall proper. 
The Bacteria of the Soil in their Relation to Agri¬ 
culture, by Frederick D. Chester, is set forth in extenso in 
Bulletin No. 98, Dept. Agr. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
1902. Such topics as soils, their value and origin; number and 
distribution of soil bacteria; chemical changes produced by bac¬ 
teria in the soil; the elaboration of plant food; assimilation of 
atmospheric nitrogen; and related matters indicate a valuable 
and useful treatise, full and up to date, covering 88 pages, con¬ 
cluding with a bibliography of 105 titles. 
Dott. G. Scalia has published in Agricultore Calabro- 
Siculo, XXVII, Nr. 24, an article, Di Una Nuovo Malattia dell’ 
Asclepias curassavica Spr., in which is proposed the new genus, 
Oidiopsis, “ab Oospora hyphis distinctis differt; Oidio omnino 
simillima sed endophyta.” 
Dr. von Schrenk reported to the Academy of Science 
of St. Louis January 5, 1903 [Science, N. S. 17:188. 30 Jan. 
I 9 ° 3 ,] that Perley Spaulding had found two weeks earlier per¬ 
fectly formed asci and ascospores of the Bitter-rot fungus (Glce- 
osporium fructigenum Berk.) in the cankers induced on apple 
limbs by inoculation — thus demonstrating for the first time and 
beyond question, that the fungus produces its perfect fruit in 
the cankers. Since the asci are evenascent “it is not at all im¬ 
probable that many of the supposed pycnidial spores found in 
both the natural and artificially produced cankers were really 
ascospores. 
In an article in Torreya (3:6—7, Jan. 1903,) entitled 
Vacation Observations.— III, Francis E. Lloyd mentions a case 
of large patches of the moss Polytrichum commune being killed 
by a fungus — probably a Mucor-like organism; also that the 
death of the capsules with some amount of distortion of Dicranum 
scoparium and Polytrichum ohioense was induced by a myxomy- 
cete. He found that Hypomyces lactifluorum, parasitic on Lac- 
tarius, is able to propel its spores i-J inches or more. 
The mobility of Rhizobium mutabile is considered by 
Albert Schneider in Contributions to the Biology of Rhizobia, 
Bot. Gaz. 35*56—8. Jan. 1903. Some of the conclusions are: 
the species is non-motile in most neutral media, especially in 
solid neutral media; it is decidedly motile in acid media, whether 
these media are liquid or solid; motile Rhizobia are smaller, and 
more uniform in size and form. 
