240 RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



fruit-body by the wind. 1 In the Aequi-hymeniiferous Type of 

 fruit-body, correlated with the facts (a) that the hymenium every- 

 where looks more or less downwards toward the earth, (b) that 

 the hymenium develops everywhere in an even manner, and 

 (c) that the spores are shot a short distance perpendicularly away 

 from the hymenium, we have the fact (d) that every small area 

 of the hymenium (every square mm.) discharges spores success- 

 fully, i.e. so that they can escape from the fruit-body, during the 

 whole period of spore-discharge. 



(6) Persistence of the Gills. During the discharge of the spores, 

 the gills are not dissolved by any process of autodigestion : they 

 only begin to decay when the period of spore-discharge has come 

 to an end. 



(7) The Pileus-flesh. This is relatively thick and in large 

 fruit-bodies often massive. It holds the gills in a fixed position 

 during the whole period of spore-discharge, which in some species 

 has a length of several days and in others of more than a week. 



The Characters of the Inaequi-hymeniiferous or Coprinus Type 

 Here, again, the characters are few in number and are common 

 to all the Sub-types included in the Type. They may be described 

 as follows : 



(1) Shape of the Gills. The gills are parallel-sided or sub- 

 parallel-sided. The gills are also relatively thin, so that their 

 substance is often reduced to a minimum. 



(2) Ageotropism of the Gills. The gills of the Coprini, unlike 

 those of Type I, do not respond to the stimulus of gravity. They 

 are brought into approximately vertical positions through a 

 negatively geotropic reaction of the stipe. 



(3) Position of the Hymenium in Space. Owing to the gills 

 being parallel-sided, ageotropic, and often slightly wavy, under 

 natural conditions one side of a gill often looks slightly upwards 

 and the opposite side slightly downwards. 



(4) Development of the Hymenium. The Inaequi-hymeniiferous 

 Type of fruit-body, as the name implies, bears a hymenium which 

 develops in an unequal manner on different parts of each gill. 

 The basidia develop their spores in succession from below upwards 



1 Vol. i. 1909, pp. 184-189. 



