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1917] CURRENT LITERATURE 83

nationsinvolvedin ordinaryMendelianphenomena;thatthemutativechanges
concernvariouscharacteristics of the plant, but that the factorforeach new
typeis regularlyinheritedas a unit,sometimesshowinglinkagewithanother
factorpair, so that we may suppose,in some cases at least, that the essential
changeis limitedto a portionof one chromosome. The veryfirsttestof these
conclusionswould demandthat the mutationsreproducethe mutationaltype
in 75 per centof theirprogenyin the firstgeneration,and that 25 per cent of
the progenybe homozygousdominants. This conditionapparentlyis satisfied
in the case of only i mutationof the 8, and untilthe data appear we have no
basis foran independentjudgmentas to whetherthe progeniesof the second
generationwerelarge enoughto prove the point at issue. Except fromthis
one mutation,no homozygousmutationaltypehas segregatedfromany of the
supposedheterozygous dominants. In themindofone whois familiarwiththe
groupof theeveningprimrosesa suspicionnaturallyarisesthat FROST'Smuta-
tionsarenotMendelianat all,butthattheyshowthetypeofbehaviorfamiliarin
Oenothera lata DeVries,and recently discoveredin mutationsfrom0. stenomeres
and0. pratincola.Thesemutationsalwaysgiveprogeniesconsisting ofa mixture
of the parentaland mutationaltypes. In the case of 0. lata the cytological
explanationis now so well knownas hardlyto requirecomment; it certainly
suggeststhat a cytologicalexaminationof the ,Matthiola mutationswouldnot
be amiss. Reciprocal crosses between the mutationaland parental types
mightalso throwlighton the possibleanalogybetweenthe eveningprimroses
and stocks, for in such types as Oenotheralata mutationalcharactersare
carriedonlyby part of the femalegametes,and by none of the male gametes.
All thatFROSTtellsabout the Matthiolamutationsso exactlyparallelswhat is
foundin Oenothera thatone can hardlyrefrainfromsuggesting, in the absence
of data supportinghis own interpretation, that instead of discoveringnew
Mendeliandominantshe has foundin a widelydistantgroupsomeof the per-
plexingphenomenawhichcriticsof the mutationtheorypersistin regarding
as peculiarto Oenothera. More and morefactsare comingto lightin groups
otherthanOenothera whichdo not fallintoline accordingto Mendelianexpec-
tations. As an exampleof what lookslike mutationin the DeVriesian sense,
one thinksof the roguesof peas, investigatedby BATESON;as an exampleof
matroclinic,non-segregating hybrids,quite comparableto thoseof Oenothera,
we have the cases in Primula, recentlyreportedby PELLEW and DURHAM.
If the type of heredityshownby Oenotheralata were foundto apply to the
mutationsof Matthiola,it would be almost as interesting as the discoveryof
new Mendeliandominants.-H. H. BARTLETT.
Respirationin succulents.-That succulentplants exhibit peculiarities
processesand periodicchangesin aciditywith light and
in theirrespiratory
darknesshas been knownfora long time. RICHARDS3has investigatedthese
3RICHARDS, HERBERT M., Acidity and gas interchangein cacti. Carnegie
Inst.,Washington, no. 209. pp. 107.
Publication 1915.
84 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JANUARY

periodicaciditychangesand the respiratory ratiosin cacti,a groupheretofore

not sufficiently studied. Extensive work has been done, principallywith
Opuntia versicolor, with resultsin general agreementwith what is already
knownregardingrespirationin succulents. The paper presentsa large mass
of data, and considersthe influenceof light,temperature, oxygensupply,and
woundingon the acidityof the tissues,and devotesconsiderablespace to the
relationof acidity,light,temperature, oxygen,etc., to the rate and ratio of
gas interchanges. The productionof the acid, chieflymalic acid in cacti,is
thoughtto be due to lack of oxygenin the tissues,owingto anatomicalstruc-
tureswhich,to restricttranspiration, restrictthe othergas exchangesas well.
During the nightthe acid accumulates,because the chieffactorscapable of
causingdeacidification, namely,light,hightemperature, prolongeddarkness,
and unusuallyhighoxygenpressures,are absent.
The truerespiratory quotientforcacti is low, and can be measuredaccu-
ratelyonly when acidityis stationaryor rising. For duringfallingacidity,
the approachof theratioto the typicalratio,unity,is not real,because thein-
creasedCO2 is furnished merelyby the decomposition ofthe acid, whichis not
considereda respiratory process. Some of the minorpointsbroughtout are
that whileCO2 productioncloselyparallelsriseand fallof temperature, it lags
behind by about an hour, maximumand minimumCO2 productionbeing
reachedabout an hourlaterthan maximumand minimumtemperature;and
that total acidityincreasesmore rapidlythan the acid concentration of the
juice. This is reasonablytraced to greaterhydrationof the colloids in the
presenceof the acids, and to an increasedosmoticpressurein the cell sap
leadingto greaterturgidity.
The main point of interestto physiologistsis the interpretation of the
phenomena,whichdifferssomewhatfromthat of NATHANSOHN, who looked
upon the breakingdownof the acids by day as a completionof the respiratory
processat a timewhenCO2 couldbe used in photosynthesis.This viewmakes
the CO2 productionduringdeacidification a sourceof respiratory energy,and
at thesame timeofgreatbiologicalsignificance in conserving therawmaterials
forphotosynthesis.RICHARDS considersthe acid the end productof respira-
tionratherthan an intermediate product. The breakingdownof the acid by
day is due chieflyto light,aided by the accompanying hightemperature. The
reactionis photolyticand not respiratory, probablytakes place in the cell
sap, and therefore probablyyieldsits energynot in connectionwiththe living
protoplasm. He pointsout that CO2 productionduringdeacidification may
be so rapid as to exceed photosynthetic use of the gas, and states that
"whatever of energythere may be from the final oxidation of the acid
outsidethe sphereof protoplasmicactivityis simplythe resultof anatomical
peculiaritiesof the plant, the advantages of which may well outweighthis
loss."
The whole problemof acidityand gas exchangeunderlife conditionsis
necessarilya verycomplexone because so manyvariablefactorsare involved,
1917] CURRENT LITERATURE 85

and a carefulreadingof the paper emphasizesthis fact. Conclusionsmust

therefore be drawnwithconsiderablecare.-CHARLES A. SHULL.
Insects and plantdiseases.-Although both botanistsand entomologists
have realizedfora long time that insectsare carriersof organismsof plant
diseases, very little attentionhas been given to the study of the subject.
However,thereis now a tendencyto take up thisline of investigation. Four
papers have come to the reviewer'sdesk recently.
A paper by RAND4on the dissemination of the bacterialwiltof cucurbits
followsout a suggestiongivenby ERWINF. SMITHand producesevidenceindi-
cating that this leaf-eatingcucumberbeetle (Diabroticavittata)is both the
summerand the wintercarrierof the Bacillus tracheiplilus whichcauses the
wiltofcucumbersand othercucurbits.
In a laterpaper by RAND and ENLOWS,S the authorsnot onlyconfirm the
conclusionsgivenby RAND in the firstpaper, but also includethe I2-spotted
cucumberbeetle(D. duodecimpunctata) as an importantsummercarrierof this
organism. In experimentsby the same authors, the squash bug (Anasa
tristis),thefleabeetle(Crepidodera cucumeris),themelonaphis(Aphisgossypii),
and the I2-spotted lady beetle (Epilachna borealis)did not transmitthe
disease.
Anotherpaper by HYSLOP6on Triphlepsinsidiosusand corn rots gives
conclusiveevidencethat thisinsectis the carrierof the fungicausingear rots.
In view of the factthat thisinsecthas been consideredbeneficialsince about
i88i, HYSLOP'Sstudiesare of morethan ordinaryinterest.
A fourthpaper by STEWART and LEONARD7 recordstheirresultswith a
numberof experiments and comes to the conclusion"that all of the sucking
bugs foundin the nurseryare of more or less importancein producingfire
blightinfections and mustbe consideredtoutensemble. The relativeimportance
of each speciesis difficultto determine. By virtueof theirmethodof feeding
and prevalenceduringeach season, certain species are undoubtedlymore
destructivethan others. On the otherhand, underspecial conditionswhen
a certainspecies is found in large numbersit may become of considerable
importance. Usually the tarnishedplant bug is moreinjuriousthan the leaf-
hopper fromthe fact that the greaterpercentageof leaf-hopperpunctures
occurin the leaf tissue."-MEL T. COOK.

4 RAND, F. V., Dissemination of bacterial wilt of cucurbits. Jour. Agric.

Research 5:257-260. i9iS.
5 RAND, F. V., and ENLOWS, ELLA, M., Transmissionand control of bacterial
wiltsof cucurbits. Jour.Agric.Research 6:4I7-434. i9i6.
6 HYSLOP, J. A., Triphlepsinsidiosus as the probable transmitter
of corn ear rot
(Diplodia sp. Fusarium). Jour.Econ. Entomology9:435-437. i9i6.
7 STEWART, V. B., and LEONARD, M. D., Further studies on the r6le of insects

in the disseminationof fireblightbacteria. Phytopath.6:I52-158. i9i6.