expressed regarding the importance of acids, of alkalies, of various salts and of these in mixture in determining the amount of water absorbed by protoplasm under physiological and pathological conditions. The well-established qualitative and quantitative analogy between the absorption of water by various hydrophilic colloids (like the proteins) and isolated cells, organs or organisms, whether of animal or vegetable origin, shows that protoplasmic water absorption is essentially a colloid-chemical phenomenon. These studies with polybasic acids and their salts therefore bring further proof of the importance of an abnormal production or accumulation of acids within such colloid systems for increasing the amount of water thus held, and so of explaining the mechanism by which the abnormally high hydrations of living cells are brought about as observed in edema, excessive turgor and plasmoptysis, or in those various "dis" which are in essence only edemas of the involved organs like nephritis, glaucoma and "uremia." These experiments also show how coincident with, but not synonymous with the increased swelling there also occur a "soft"2 and an increased "solution" of the ening " colloids of the involved tissues, thus explaining further the "softening" of organs after an initial swelling together with the appearance of increased amounts of colloid (like protein) in the fluids bathing or expressed from the involved edematous tissues (albuminuria, excessive protein content of spinal fluid in edemas of the central nervous system, increased protein content of serous accumulations, etc.). eases MARTIN H. FISCHER, WARD D. COFFMAN EICHBERG LABORATORY OF PHYSIOLOGY, 2 For a discussion of tissue softening as due to the breaking of an emulsion see Martin H. Fischer and Marian O. Hooker, SCIENCE, N. S., Vol. XLIII, p. 468 (1916); "Fats and Fatty Degeneration,'' 76, New York, 1917. NOTES ON MITES ATTACKING ORCHARD AND FIELD CROPS IN UTAH1 DURING the summers of 1915 and 1916 while making investigations for the laboratory of the American Smelting & Refining Company, Department of Agricultural Investigations, I found certain mites to be particularly abundant and destructive to grains in Utah. The most important of these was the common Tetranychus bimaculatus Harvey, which Ewing believes is the same as T. telarius Linn. The host list for this species, as Ewing has pointed out, is a long one, and it is an important pest on a surprisingly large number of crops. In 1916 it was so abundant in orchards that many cherry trees were completely defoliated before the end of August, and apricot, pear, plum and apple trees were only a little less seriously affected. Raspberry and currant bushes suffered severely, some of them losing all of their leaves. Peas, beans, tomatoes and other kinds of garden truck showed more or less injury in all stages of their development, and in one field of sugar beets, I found many leaves drying and turning brown on account of the attacks of this mite. The loss of the foliage of many ornamental plants, while not of so much economic importance, was, of course, a very annoying thing. Corn probably suffered more than any other field crop. In many fields practically every plant suffered the loss of some of its leaves, and in other places all of the leaves turned brown and became thoroughly dry because of the presence of the myriads of mites that covered the undersides of the leaves. The parts of the fields where the soil was lighter and dryer usually suffered most, but no parts seemed to be immune from the attacks of this pest. The suckers and lower leaves were the first to be attacked and to show the brown spots or streaks where colonies of the mites were feeding. When the trouble went no further it was of but little economic importance, but when the upper leaves were attacked and practically all destroyed the plant withered and was not even good for fodder. 1 Contribution from the laboratories of the American Smelting and Refining Co., Department of Agricultural Investigations. Many wheat fields also sustained considerable losses due to the attacks of the same mite. The wheat plants would usually be attacked a short time before the head burst from the sheath and when the infestation was bad the leaves would become dry and brown at the point of attack and the portion of the leaf beyond this would droop down and dry out. Often all of the leaves would be affected in this way and the heads, if they developed at all, would be small and poorly filled. Earlier in the season, while the wheat plants were much smaller, they were often attacked by two other species of mites. One of these is the well-known clover mite, Bryobia pratensis. The other has been called the jumping mite on account of its habit of quickly folding its legs and dropping from the plant when disturbed. Banks in Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., Vol. 14, p. 97, named this species Tetranychus longipes. A letter dated June 29, 1915, says that he now places it with two others in a new genus, Tetranobia. He refers to this genus again in his bulletin on "The Acarina or Mites" (Rept. No. 108, U. S. Dept. Agric. Office of Sec., pp. 33 and 38) but the formal description of the genus has not yet been published. The common name, jumping mite, is somewhat misleading, for the mite does not actually jump, but, when alarmed, it folds its legs quickly and may thus be thrown a short distance from the spot where it was feeding. In fields where the mite is abundant the leaves turn distinctly gray and many of them become so dry that the growth of the plant is seriously affected. Both B. pratensis and Tetranobia longipes were found destructively abundant not only on wheat, but on barley, oats and many wild grasses. STANFORD UNIVERSITY R. W. DOANE THE OCCURRENCE OF MANNITE IN SILAGE AND ITS POSSIBLE UTILIZATION IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EXPLOSIVES DURING the course of our investigations on the fermentation processes that occur immediately after the ensiling of corn, and the chemical products resulting therefrom, it was found that mannite could be isolated from practically every sample of normal corn silage. The alcoholic extract from dried silage yielded, on evaporation, considerable amounts of mannite, which after one recrystallization gave the characteristic crystals melting at 168-169°. That the presence of mannite can not be considered a local phenomenon is shown by the fact that silage samples obtained from a number of other states in the middle west all contained mannite. The only previous reference to the occurrence of mannite in silage is in a paper by Manns, published a quarter of a century ago. In his work, however, only one sample of silage was examined and the approximate amount of mannite found was not stated. The following table shows the amount of mannite actually isolated by us from samples of silage obtained from various sources: a maximum soon after filling the silo and then some loss probably occurs, owing to further bacterial activities. However, the amount of mannite is still considerable when the silage is several months old. If it is desired to prepare quantities of mannite without reference to an approximately quantitative yield, the method may be much simplified. The silage is put in a powerful press, the juice filtered, evaporated to about one sixth of its volume and two or three volumes of alcohol added. The mannite then crystallizes out, and the alcohol can be recovered in the usual way. In this manner it should be possible to extract the mannite on a large scale at very little cost. The pressed residue and the mother liquor could be combined and used for feeding in place of the original silage, since practically nothing would be removed but the mannite and the volatile acids. Mannite yields a nitration product very similar in properties to nitroglycerin. According to Sanford,2 "Nitromannite is more dangerous than nitroglycerin, as it is more sensitive to shock. It is intermediate in its shattering properties between nitroglycerin and fulminate of mercury. . . . It is not manufactured upon the commercial scale." The reason nitromannite is not made commercially is probably the prohibitive cost of mannite. Prepared by the above method from silage, mannite should be even cheaper than glycerin, especially if the residues are utilized as cattle feed. The thousands of tons of silage used every year by the farmers of this country could be made to yield a valuable by-product if treated by this simple process. ARTHUR W. Dox, G. P. PLAISANCE IOWA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION It will be noted that the highest percentages of mannite are to be found in the sunflower silage, the cane silage and the experimental corn silage to which sucrose had been added. Evidently the mother substance of the mannite is sucrose, or more specifically its fructose moiety. The production of mannite no doubt reaches 1 Illinois Ag. Exp. Sta. Bulletin, No. 7, pp. 190 193. THE NORTH CAROLINA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE THE sixteenth annual meeting of the North Carolina Academy of Science was held at the University of North Carolina on Friday and Saturday, April 27 and 28, 1917. At 2:30 P.M. the executive 2 Nitro-Explosives, p. 110, D. Van Nostrand Co., 1906. committee met, passed on the report of the secretary-treasurer, elected 10 new members, and selected the State Normal College, Greensboro, as the next place of meeting. At 3 P.M. the reading of papers was begun and continued until 5:30, when adjournment was had. Reconvening at 8 P.M., the academy was welcomed to the university by Dean Andrew H. Patterson, after which President F. P. Venable, of the academy, delivered his presidential address, "The structure of the atom.'' Next Professor Collier Cobb gave a lecture on "Typical early maps of North Carolina" illustrated by lantern slides of some of the maps in question. The academy then adjourned to the hospitable home of Professor W. C. Coker for a highly enjoyable smoker. The annual business meeting of the academy was held at 9:15 Saturday morning. Reports of the secretary-treasurer, the executive and other committees were made. On motion a committee was appointed to cooperate with a similar committee from the Science Section of the North Carolina State Teachers' Association in studying the subject of the teaching of high-school sciences in the state with reference to its increased efficiency. The secretary reported on his visit to the meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and his appearance in behalf of the work in science before its committee on the curriculum of secondary schools. On motion, the secretary was again appointed as the representative of the academy at the next meeting of this association. After some discussion it was declared the sense of the meeting that an increased effort be made in 1918 to bring into the membership of the academy as many as possible of the high-school teachers of science in the state. The following officers were elected for 1917-18: President-W. A. Withers, State Agricultural and Engineering College, West Raleigh. Vice-president J. H. Pratt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Secretary-treasurer-E. W. Gudger, State Normal College, Greensboro. Additional members executive committee-Bert Cunningham, High School, Durham; H. R. Totten, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; H. C. Beardslee, Asheville School, Asheville. At 10:50 a joint meeting was held of the academy and the North Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society for the reading of the papers of common interest to both bodies. Following this, papers were read before the academy until the program was finished at 1:40, when the mem bers were entertained by the university at luncheon in Swain Hall. Of the 20 papers on the program not one was read by title. Counting the 10 new members, the total membership of the academy is 84, of whom 37 were present at this meeting. Including the presidential address, which will be published in the current number of the Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, the following papers were read: Pliocene deposits in Orange county: JOHN E. SMITH. These occur on the divides and on the higher terraces in the plateau section of the county and generally over the Triassic area except on the floodplains and on the steeper slopes near the streams. On the upland (elevation, 500-600 feet) this material consists of smooth, rounded pebbles and cobbles (some of which are polished) of quartz and quartzose minerals up to six inches or more in diameter, together with fragments of the same and of other minerals down to the size of soil particles. In the Triassic area (elevation, 250-400 feet) the deposit comprises gravel, sand and soil (in addition to the above) in some places reaching a thickness of a foot or more. This material has been transported from a distance and characterizes the Granville soils, distinguishing them from those of the Penn series, which are derived from the Triassic rocks in place. The thinly distributed pebbles on the higher divides of the county may be remnants of river deposits on a peneplain, but the soils, etc., of the lower interstream areas are doubtless of Lafayette age. (Illustrated with lantern slides.) The pollination of Rotundifolia grapes: L. R. DETJEN. A close examination of the flowers of Vitis rotundifolia brings out the fact that this species of grape is not at all adapted to cross-pollination by means of the wind; on the contrary, it seems to indicate that insects alone are responsible for the transportation of the pollen. Bees of the family Andrenidæ and beetles of the species Chauliognathus marginatus were tested for their propensities of transporting pollen and for the searching for flowers of the fruit-bearing varieties. The test was made by enclosing insects, newly captured on flowers of staminate vines, separately in spacious cloth bags together with clusters of open but unpollinated flowers. The results secured substantiate the hypothesis of insect pollination. They further indicate that bees of the fam ily Andrenidæ are probably the most effective pollinators of the vine and that beetles are of only minor importance. Bees of the family Megachilidæ are also active workers and undoubtedly contribute considerably toward the production of fruit. Saprolegnia anisospora in America: W. C. COKER. This species has not before been reported in America. We have found it twice in Chapel Hill, in marshy shaded places containing algæ. It is distinguished chiefly by the following characters: 1. The presence of spores of two or three sizes, borne usually in separate sporangia without regard to the size of the latter; the small spores from 10.5-11 μ in diameter, the large ones from 13.7-14.8 μ in diameter. In nearly all cultures there are formed a few very large spores, at least twice the size of the ordinary large ones, these appearing mixed in with the latter. 2. The irregular shape of the sporangia, which are not evenly cylindrical, but more or less waved, bent and constricted, and which proliferate either laterally from below as in Achlya, or within the old ones, as is usual in Saprolegnia. 3. In sexual reproduction numerous oogonia are formed, each with one or more antheridia of diclinous origin. The jaws of the great barracuda, Sphyræna barracuda: E. W. GUDGER. A careful description, illustrated by photographs and a specimen, was given of the teeth and jaws of this fish. Their use was briefly described and some accounts of the ferocity of the fish narrated. In the waters of southern Florida it is generally more feared than the shark, being bold and inquisitive where the shark is cowardly. The data presented are part of a paper now in press in a volume of memoirs from the Tortugas Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution at Washington. The status of the science work in the high schools of North Carolina (lantern): S. J. MARION. This survey and report will be published in full in the forthcoming issue of the North Carolina High School Bulletin. Armillaria mellea, Clitocybe cespitosa, Pleurotus sapidus and Claudopus nidulans in pure culture: H. R. TOTTEN. The fact that the spores of Armillaria mellea and Clitocybe cespitosa (C. monodelpha) have two walls, while the spores of Pleurotus sapidus and Claudopus nidulans have only one wall is plainly shown in the sprouting spores. Mycelia of the four mushrooms were shown in pure culture on several media, also drawings of the mycelial threads as seen under high power. Armillaria mellea forms a slow-growing, closely flocculent, cream-colored mat, and soon produces long, brown to black, root-like rhizomorphs. In agar these rhizomorphs are beautifully shown radiating from the mat-like central mass. The mycelium of Clitocybe cespitosa is much like that of Armillaria mellea, but the threads are not so closely woven and the rhizomorphs, or root-like bodies, are white. It is shown that Armillaria mellea and Clitocybe cespitosa, while very closely related, are not the same. The mycelium of Claudopus nidulans is silkier and is from white to pink in color. The mycelium of Pleurotus sapidus except in old cultures is loose and silky and is very fast growing, soon covering the medium with a mass of pure white threads. Fruiting bodies of both Pleurotus sapidus and Claudopus nidulans were shown developing in pure cultures. Structural geology of Orange county, N. C.: JOHN With few exceptions the rocks of this county occur in long, narrow belts and "islands" extending north 65° east. Named in their order from the southeast these areas comprise the Triassic sedimentaries, granite, diorite, rhyolite, schists and greenstone, diorite, schists and phyllite, greenstone and schists, diorite, schists and greenstone, diorite, granite. The structure of these rocks is that of a syncline whose trough centers along the line of strike and passes near Cheek's Siding about three miles east of Mebane. Measured along the dip this syncline is approximately twenty miles wide and probably contains folds of minor importance within it. The major joints, flow lines, etc., of the igneous rocks in many places parallel both the dip and the strike of the schists belts. Inclusions of the diorite in the granite attest the greater age of the former and the presence of belts of igneous rocks beneath the margins of the syncline certify their contribution to the structure and prove the greater age of the schists, etc. South of Chapel Hill beyond Morgan Creek the strike is due east and west and the conglomerates, slates and rhyolites dip to the south at an angle of 65°. (Illustrated with maps, charts and structure sections.) State regulation of the sale and manufacture of gas: C. W. EDWARDS. In 1910, out of 228 cities in the United States of more than 25,000 population, only 47 had no requirements such as are in a bill proposed for North Carolina. Of these 228 cities, 103 are www. |