472 SUMMARY OF CUERENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



G. Fron * in another note reports on the same subject from a 

 chemical point of view. His aim was to find out which were the organic 

 substances most favourable to the growth of Morchella. He finds that 

 the mycelium requires nourishment, largely of hydrocarbons and inulin, 

 as well as glucose, and starch is peculiarly favourable to their develop- 

 ment. The mineral constituents are less important, but it is necessary 

 to furnish phosphates, nitrates, and salts of calcium in neutral or only 

 slightly alkaline media. 



Ch. Prepin f calls attention to his publication in the Comptes Rendus 

 1901, of results obtained in the culture of Morchella, exactly comparable 

 with those now published by Marin Molliard. He got good growths of 

 the fungus from a compost of apples and also from branches buried in 

 a silo. He could not succeed in producing ascospores in pure cultures, 

 and his opinion is that bacteria are necessary for their development. 

 He has proved also that the nutrition of these fungi is afforded by some 

 cellulose substance. In the case of the apples the sugar must disappear 

 quickly, and only the cellulose of the pulp can be present to provide for 

 prolonged growth of the fungus. 



Fermentation with Mucor.J — C Wehmer has experimented with 

 Mucor yeast, as to the effect of oxygen in hindering the fermentation 

 process. He finds that this is not the case, and that exclusion of air is 

 as unnecessary in the case of Mucor as in Saccharomyces. He gives an 

 account of the experiments he carried out, the fungus being Mucor 

 racemosus. 



Stearophora radicicola.f — L. Mangin and P. Yiala describe a 

 fungus that they found again and again in the roots of vines that had 

 been attacked by Phylloxera and other diseases. The mycelium of the 

 fungus Stearophora penetrates into the tissues of the cortex and the 

 wood. In the vessels it becomes massed into dark looking clumps or 

 sclerotia. In artificial cultures sclerotia are also formed. Two organs 

 of fructification were noted. On the artificial cultures, after much in- 

 tricate growth, very fine hair-like filaments were produced, dark coloured 

 like the rest of the mycelium, but the end cell was colourless, and the 

 spores were produced inside the cell. They are extremely small, resem- 

 bling minute bacteria. The second method of fructification also results 

 in endospores produced in the larger hyphee. A swelling takes place 

 often at the insertion of a branch, and in the cell thus formed spores 

 are produced similar to the others. The authors think that the fungus 

 represents a group of primitive ascomycetes with dissociated asci. 



Charrin and Le Pley have experimented on animals with this fungus, 

 and find that it has interesting pathogenic properties. It causes pseudo- 

 tumours and anaemia, and also induces the formation of nodosities and 

 deformations of the bones with a diminution of water, lime and phos- 

 phoric acid. The extreme minuteness of the spores enables them to 

 traverse the tissues and to spread in all directions. 



* Comptes Rendus, cxl. (1905) pp. 1187-9. 



T Tom. cii, pp. 1274-5. 



X Ber. Deutsch. Bot. GeselL, xxiii. (1905) pp.^122-5. 



§ Comptes Rendus, cxl. (1905) pp. 1477-82. 



