PREFACE 



IN 1909 there was published my Researches on Fungi, which treated 

 of the fruit-bodies of Hymenomycetes and certain Ascomycetes 

 considered as organs for the production and liberation of spores. 

 During the thirteen years which have elapsed since that time my 

 investigations have been continued, and I now propose to embody 

 the results which have accumulated therefrom in three new volumes. 

 The 1909 volume and these new volumes are to be considered as 

 parts of a larger work having the general title Researches on Fungi. 

 Of this work the 1909 volume now becomes Volume I and the pre- 

 sent volume Volume II. The third and fourth volumes are alreadv 



i> 



in an advanced stage of preparation for the press. 



The morphological and physiological facts which have come to 

 light in the course of my researches have taught me that the adapta- 

 tion of structure to function in the higher fungi is just as remarkable 

 as that found in the Phanerogamia. The form and arrangement of 

 parts exhibited in the sporophore of the Common Mushroom and its 

 allies appear to be no less beautifully fitted for the efficient pro- 

 duction and liberation of spores than are the form and arrangement 

 of Orchid flowers for securing successful pollination by insects- 

 Ample evidence supporting this conclusion will, I believe, be found 

 in the pages of this book. The analysis of the hymenium of 

 Panaeolus campanulatus, as described in Chapter X, will perhaps 

 enable the reader to comprehend, in a manner not hitherto possible, 

 how millions of hyphae combine their activities to produce the 

 spore-stream which is emitted from beneath the pileus without 

 a moment's interruption for the seven or more days of tho spore- 

 fall period. 



The work for this volume has been carried out chiefly in my own 

 laboratory, at the University of Manitoba, but in part also in the 



VII 



