ALBERT

Description: Corophium arenarium was first described by CRAWFORD in his excellent review of the entire genus, in 1937. In the description, the author expressed his doubt already whether it might be a distinct species or merely a variety of C. volutator. CRAWFORD\xe2\x80\x99S observations on the variation of the number of spines on antenna II, segment 4 and 5, suggest that it is only a variety.\nCHEVAIS, 1937, does not give a definite opinion, whether he considers the species distinct from each other or not. For biometrical reasons, as well for reasons of variation observed by other authors, he suggests, however, that C. volutator and C. arenarium are only local races of one species.

Description: One of the specimens dealt with in the present paper has been described in previous papers, in which it appeared under three different names, all of which for different reasons eventually proved to be erroneous. The present identification as Sacculina cordata Shiino at last seems to be definite. The second specimen, as the first from the material collected by the Siboga Expedition, belongs to the species Sacculina papposa V. K. & B., of which up till now the type specimen only was known; the parasite dealt with here is interesting because the excrescences of its external cuticle are of a structure slightly different from that of the corresponding parts in the type; moreover, in this specimen retinacula were found, yielding an additional character for the definition of the species. The remainder of the material dealt with here proved to belong to a new species, characterized in the first place by the peculiar excrescences of the external cuticle.

Description: Scientific research concerning growth inhibitors, which has been pursued for several decades already, dealt mainly with the effect of these substances on the germination process. WIESNER (1894) demonstrated the presence of a growth inhibitor in the slime of the mistletoe (Viscum album) which prevented the germination of a great variety of seeds. OPPENHEIMER (1922) supplemented the analysis by placing seeds on the pulp of ripe tomatoes and he observed a strong inhibitive effect as a result of this treatment. In addition, however, he found that the inhibiting substance is thermolabile and insoluble in ether or alcohol. REINHARD (1933) corroborated Oppenheimer\xe2\x80\x99s results for the most part. According to this author, however, the inhibiting agent in tomato juice is thermostabile, and it is not destroyed by boiling, neiher by neutralisation or by diluting the juice 50 times. In other fleshy fruits such as apples, pears and quinces K\xc3\x96CKEMANN (1934) detected inhibiting substances capable of preventing the germination of Lepidium seeds. These substances were reported to be sensitive to peroxide and to alkali, thermostabile and soluble in water and in ether, but insoluble in petroleum ether. On the other hand, the inhibiting agent extracted by LEHMANN (1937) from the exocarp if buckwheat is thermolabile. In Helianthus annuus and Avena sativa, finally, RUGE (1939) demonstrated the presence of an inhibitor that reduces the speed of germination to a considerable extent. FR\xc3\x96SCHEL\xe2\x80\x99S investigations on Trifolium and Beta will be dealt with in 4.\nThis survey is not quite exhaustive, but clearly demonstrates that the inhibiting agent should not be regarded as a definite, well-defined chemical substance which is always the same in every individual case, but as a group of substances with analogous activities but most probably with widely divergent physical and chemical properties. Following K\xc3\x96CKEMANN (1934) we can classify the inhibiting substances into two groups, as follows : 1. inhibiting substances in the testa or in the seed, and 2. inhibiting substances in the mesocarp of pulpy fruits.

Description: In January 1949 Professor H. J. Lam, director of the Rijksherbarium, Leyden, on his way to the 7th Pacific Science Congress in New Zealand, spending some time in Fiji, was shown by Mr B. E. V. Parham, Department of Agriculture, Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, a slender tree, cultivated in the Agricultural Experimental Garden Naduruloulou. The tree was unidentified and of unknown origin. Some flowering material was collected and at our request Mr Parham was good enough to send some ripe fruits in liquid for an investigation I was entrusted with.\nAdditional material was studied from the herbaria at Brisbane, Kew, Leiden, Melbourne and Paris. It is my pleasant duty to tender my best thanks to the directors of these institutes for the loan of this valuable material, among which the type.

Description: Up till now the lower deposits of peat (in Dutch: veen-op-groterediepte = peat at greater depth) have been investigated in the Netherlands mainly in the Western part of the country, viz. in the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Zeeland. The analyses have shown that the development of this, now comparatively well known peat layer must have begun either in the second half of the boreal period or else in the beginning of the atlantic one, and that it must have come to an end in the first half of the latter. Among the earlier investigators the botanist Mrs VERNEER-LOUMAN and some geologists had arrived at the conclusion that the sudden transgression of the North sea which made an end to the formation of peat, took place in the boreal period, and hat the whole lower deposit of peat, therefore, was of boreal age (lit. 7). This opinion, however, was sufficiently disproved by FLORSCH\xc3\x9cTZ, and all subsequent analyses have confirmed the view that the peat formation must have stopped early in the atlantic period (lit. 2, 3, 4). The same conclusion was arrived at by GODWIN as a result of his investigations of the lower peat found in SE England (lit. 5, 6) and by several German investigators as a result of their analyses of the lower peat, found in NW Germany.\nOnly one analyses of the lower peat in the province of Friesland, in the Northern part of the Netherlands, has sofar been published. The geologist VAN ANDEL found near Kiesterzijl, at a depth of only 3.50 m a thin layer of peat. He identified it with the lower peat from the W part of the Netherlands which occurs several meters deeper. His two diagrams show a boreal age for the basal layers and an atlantic age for the top ones and they confirm therefore the conclusions,obtained in the W part of the country (lit. 1).