44 
A list of varieties which are free from or subject to attack is also 
giveu. The paper is oueof great practical value to sorghum growers.— 
Effie A. South worth. 
Masses, Geo roe. On the presence of sexual organs in JEculium. An¬ 
nals of Botany, Yol. II, No. V, p. 47. 
There has been much speculation among botanists as to the occur¬ 
rence of antheridia and obgonia in the Uredinew. The question now 
seems in a fair way to be settled in the affirmative. 
In Annals of Botany for June, 1888, George Massee, of Kew, contrib¬ 
utes an interesting illustrated paper, going to show that a distinct sex¬ 
ual process precedes the formation of iEcidia in this important group 
of plants. His discovery was made in the spring of 1888, while exam¬ 
ining the secidial form of Uromyces Pom, Bab., which form occurs abun¬ 
dantly at Kew on Ranunculus Ficaria. 
He describes and illustrates several stages. Fig. 1 shows a clavate 
body surrounded by a weft of hypbse. This body, rich in granular pro¬ 
toplasm, was under observation some days, during which its size in¬ 
creased and its contents became less granular. Several refractive glob¬ 
ules also appeared, and a nucleus was demonstrated by use of methyl- 
green. Fig. 2 shows an irregular oblong body much larger than Fig. 
1, but otherwise resembling it; and a much narrower, curved, and blunt- 
pointed antheridia! body arising from a distinct mycelial thread and 
attached by its end to the side of the oogonium. Its exact connection 
* 
with the latter was not made out. Both organs are full of densely 
granular protoplasm, and each is separated from itshyphaby a septum. 
By keeping this slide in water with 2 per cent, of glycerine the devel¬ 
opment of these organs was followed for two days. During this time 
the antheridium became empty and shriveled, while the oogonium con¬ 
tinued densely protoplasmic, increased in size, and became somewhat 
pear shaped—Fig. 3. The hyphse beneath and around the oogonium 
also became much branched, forming a complex weft. Fig. 4 shows a 
state much further advanced, the oogonium having become nodulose, and 
more nearly like an ordinary seeidium. These nodules, with exception 
of the basal row, which forms the peridium, are said to grow into the 
ordinary basidia of the seeidium. It does not appear that Mr. Massee 
was able to trace Fig. 3 directly into Fig. 4. 
For the benefit of those who wish to make observations on other secidia 
it should be stated that in the seeidium on Ranunculus ficaria this stage 
was found to be very fleeting. By the time the secidia became visi¬ 
ble all trace of it had disappeared. Sections through the leaves should 
be made when the spermogonia first appear, or while the future seeidium 
is indicated only by the faintest discoloration.— Erwin F. Smith. 
