78 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE. GO SSIP. 



interior portion of the stem presents no extra- 

 ordinary feature over which we need to linger. If 

 we remove a little of the powdery white substance, 

 and place it in a drop of water under the micro- 

 scope, it will be found to consist of myriads of 

 colourless cells, of a narrowly lanceolate shape, 

 springing from the tips of transparent jointed 

 threads. These are one form of fruit, it is true, but 

 a very secondary one, and are called "conidia." 

 What relation do they bear to the more perfect 

 fruit to be hereafter described ? "Ay, there's the 

 rub." It is very possible that they do bear some 

 relation to, or influence the production of, the 

 sporidia, but how ? Is it likely that they will ulti- 

 mately be discovered to have fecundative powers, 

 or will the spermatia be found elsewhere, and 

 these bodies settle down to a secondary fruit, and 

 nothing more ? It is very easy to ask such questions 

 — it is well that such questions should be asked, but 

 it is-not so very easy to answer them. The answer 

 may come with all-suflicient evidence one day, but 

 at present there is no reply save what is grounded 

 on speculation. 



Fig. 47. Xi/lnrin hyposeylon, perfect condition with section, 

 and asci with sporidia, magnified 350. 



A more complete and perfect form of this same 

 fungus occurs later on old stumps, and sometimes 

 at the bottom of stakes. It is easily detected by 

 the naked eye. Usually more dwarfed, with the 

 tips scarcely paler, seldom branched, and the upper 

 portion swollen, rounded, and rough with little 

 projections; such is the condition to which we 

 allude. Having found such a specimen, let us cut 

 it through longitudinally, and examine the section 

 with a pocket lens. The swollen, roughened upper 

 portion exhibits a number of little blackened points 

 along the margin, close beneath the blackened ex- 

 ternal layer. These, by means of a higher power, 



are discovered to be nearly globose cells sunk in the 

 white corky stroma. Each of these cells, when 

 fresh, contains a little gelatinous nucleus. Let us 

 call them immersed perithecia, because the gela- 

 tinous nucleus consists of the thecas or asci, here- 

 after to be described, around which {peri) is the 

 cell-wall of the perithecium. These perithecia have 

 a pap-like projection at the apex, which causes the 

 roughness of the surface of the clubs. Ultimately 

 each of these projections is pierced with an orifice, 

 through which the sporidia escape. 



Suppose that when one of these mature clubs or 

 horns is found it is dry, and the gelatinous con- 

 tents of the perithecia are dried up to a whitish 

 coating of the interior wall. What is to be done in 

 such a case? Simply immerse the whole fungus 

 for an hour in water, and, unless very much dried, 

 the cell-contents will resume more or less of their 

 gelatinous character, and be ready for examina- 

 tion. Then pick out one or two of the peri- 

 thecia, or, better still, cut through them, and pick 

 out the contents of one or two on the point of a 

 needle, and transfer them to a drop of water for 

 examination. A quarter-inch objective will be 

 necessary. There are to be seen long cylindrical 

 transparent sacs, each containing eight dark-coloured 

 bodies, in a single row. These are the sporidia 

 contained in the thecse or asci. Side by side are 

 long, colourless hair-like filaments, called paraphyses, 

 the origin and functions of which, notwithstanding 

 all that lias been said, or supposed, are obscure. 

 The sporidia are dark-brown, nearly opaque, of an 

 elliptical shape, with slightly-pointed ends, some- 

 times curved, so as to be almost sausage-shaped, 

 and when not quite mature each contains one or 

 two nucleoli. These are the fruit, somewhat analo- 

 gous to the seeds of higher plants, and by means of 

 them the species is reproduced. It is not difficult 

 to cause the sporidia of many fungi to germinate 

 freely in water, and not an unprofitable occupatiou 

 for a leisure hour. When the sporidia are fully 

 matured, the asci or sacs which contained them are 

 ruptured, and the sporidia escape aud make their 

 way out of the perithecia by means of the orifices 

 in the pap-like projections already alluded to. Such, 

 then, is the structure of the candle-snuff fungus, or, 

 at least, it is a brief account of some of the most 

 important features, because the minute examination 

 would furnish something to be said about the corky 

 stroma, and the cortical layer, and the velvety hairs ; 

 but all these may be left for the reader to examine 

 for himself, having aquired a knowledge of general 

 structure. It only remains to be stated that the 

 name by which this fungus is known to botanists, 

 is Xylarla hypoxylon, and that it belongs to the 

 Sphce.riacei. All the mysteries of classification we 

 will leave the student to obtain from some work 

 devoted to the subject. 



This is a very common object. He that hath 



