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Bunt Spores. By M. C. Cooke. 

 {Read February 26th, 1869.) 



I AM induced to bi-ing this subject before the Chib, primarily on 

 account of the prominence given to Bunt Spores in Professor 

 Hallier's works on Cholera Contagion, and, secondly, because they 

 are useful and instructive objects for microscopical examination. 



Bunt {Tilletia caries) is a parasitic fungus which entirely replaces 

 the farinaceous interior of grains of wheat, and fills the entire husk 

 with a dark brown, impalpable powder, resembling soot. This 

 powder consists of brown globose spores, with a reticulated surface, 

 sparingly intermixed with delicate branched threads. Externally 

 the ear of wheat, when affected, differs so little from a healthy 

 ear of wheat, that only an experienced eye would detect the differ- 

 ence. The grains themselves are a little swollen and darker 

 coloured, but still retain the form of the grain. When broken 

 between the finger and thumb, a rather fetid odour is perceptible, 

 which led to the adoption of Uredo foetida as one of its older 

 names. 



This diseased condition of wheat has certainly been known for 

 more than a century, since Matthieu Tillet wrote his " Disserta- 

 tions " in 1755, and from him its present generic name is derived. 



It is no portion of my duty to refer here to the agricultural 

 features of this " foe to the farmer," or to the means adopted to 

 check its ravages, but rather to indicate briefly its microscopical 

 character and development. 



In the year 1847, the Eev. M. J. Berkeley instituted some 

 important experiments on Bunt Spores, and published the results 

 in the second volume of the " Journal of the Horticultural Society 

 of London," in a paper entitled " Observations on the Propagation 

 of Bunt, made with an Especial Reference to the Potatoe Disease " 

 (pp. 107). As this paper contains the first indication of the true 

 character of Bunt Spores, I may be excused for quoting from it 

 freely. 



" I procured," says the writer, " as good a sample of wheat as 

 possible, and divided it into two portions, washing the one care- 



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