ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 753 



Ambrosia Fungus.* — F. W. Neger has given us a second contribu- 

 tion on this subject. He finds that beetles as well as ants seek to 

 obtain pure cultures of the fungus that serves them for nourishment. 

 The ants secure this by constant weeding of their fungus gardens ; the 

 beetles by more secluded culture's, in localities free from alien infection : 

 they never bore into trees affected by parasitic fungi. The fungi are 

 grown in gangways and borings prepared by the beetles, who carry 

 away the fragments of wood, and so secure a clean, well-aired habitat 

 for the fungus, though some foreign fungi find a lodgment in the 

 process of making the gangways. Neger has concluded that the 

 Ambrosia fungus of Hylecmtus dermestoides is probably a species of 

 Endomyces ; "the species of Ceratostomella constantly found in the 

 borings has no connection with the Ambrosia fungus. 



Notes on various Fungi.j — F. Theiszen gives a second series of his 

 " Fragmenta brasilica." Hypoxylonopsis P. Henn. he finds to be identical 

 with a previously described genus, Myrmsecium. A number of new 

 species are described and old ones revised. He comments on the varia- 

 bility of the spores in Phyllacora, which has given rise to many species 

 now shelved as synonyms. 



Influence of Parasitic Fungi on the Form of the Host-plant. :j: 

 Some notes on this subject are contributed by Dittrich. He finds that 

 the disturbance of the host-tissue caused by the parasite very seldom 

 results in any alteration of form. The changes brought about are 

 reckoned under atrophy or hypertrophy, and both conditions may be in- 

 duced on the same plant by one fungus. The most important formations 

 are the witches' brooms, which are nearly all due to a fungoid parasite. 



British Fungi.§ — J. F. Rayner, in an address delivered before the 

 members of the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, advocates 

 the study of fungi in the field as a fascinating branch of nature study. 

 His notes on fungus-collecting have special reference to Hampshire, and 

 he tells of the rather rare fungi that have been gathered there, the 

 New Forest offering a fine ground for collectors. Rayner gives special 

 attention to edible species, and concludes with advice as to the fungus- 

 hunter's outfit. 



W. M'Cutcheon || publishes a list of fungi found in and around 

 Dumfries in the months of September and October. The list is con- 

 fessedly only a preliminary one, but it includes £0 species. 



A. Lorrain Smithy also presents a list of Dumfries-shire fungi ; her 

 field of search extended to various parts of the county, and the fungi 

 number 258 species. A sketch is also given of the conditions of climate 

 and soil most favourable to the production of fungi. 



Influence of Parasitic Fungi on Currant Wine.** — Karl Muller 

 has tested and examined the wine made from black currants taken from 



* Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xxvii. (1908) pp. 372-89 (1 pi. and 3 figs.). 



t Ann. Mvcol., vii. (1909) pp. 343-53. 



% Jahresb" Schles. Ges., lxxxvi. 2te Abt. (1908) p. 32. 



§ Trans. S.E. Union Sci. Soc, (1909) pp. 15-20, 



Trans. Dumfr. & Gall. Nat. Hist. Soc, xx. (1909) pp. 95-7. 

 If Tom. cit., pp. 170-7. ** Centralbl. Bakt., xxiv. (1909) pp. 155-8. 



