ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 683 



Origin and Development of the Apothece of Lichens.* — Dr. E. Baur 

 discusses the question of the sexuality of the higher Ascomycetes, de- 

 scribing especially the carpogone of Parmelia Acetabulum, Pertusana 

 communis, and Pyrenula nitida. He gives a list of those genera of lichens 

 in which a typical archegone with an ascogone and trichogyne have 

 hitherto been detected with certainty. He supports the view of Harper | 

 that a process of impregnation does take place in many lichens ; but that 

 the so-called " spermatia " are not the male sexual organs ; they are, at 

 least in many lichens, pycnospores, the germination of which can be 

 artificially induced. 



Chinese Yeast. — A fresh examination of the organisms connected 

 with the fermentation of Chinese yeast, used in making the " ragi " of 

 Java, have led C. Wehmer t to the following conclusions. The chief 

 agents in the process of saccharification are Rhizopus Oryzse, Chlamydo- 

 mucor Oryzse, and, to a less extent, Mucor Rouxii. The latter species, as 

 also M. javanicHS (including M. dubius), also produce active fermentation, 

 which is not the case with Chlamydomucor or Rhizopus, Rhizopus Oryzse 

 is probably a form of the very polymorphic R. nigricans. In Mucor 

 Rouxii, javanicus, and dubius, the cells contain a light golden-yellow or 

 orange-yellow pigment, which does not penetrate the cell-walls ; while 

 in Chlamydomucor the membrane is often coloured, yellow oil-drops not 

 having been observed. 



T. Chrzaszcz § describes, under the name Mucor Cambodja sj. n., a 

 new technical fungus found in rice-meal cakes in Java, possessing fer- 

 menting properties. It is a well-marked species presenting some of the 

 characters of Rhizopus, especially in the well-developed mycele. 



Fungus-slime of Trees. — Dr. W. Holtz || discusses the fungus-forms 

 which enter into the composition of the slime on living trees, especially 

 the oak, and describes in detail the structure and life-history of Endo- 

 myces Magnusii. His general conclusions differ considerably from those 

 of Ludwig.^f He does not find in any case the presence of parasitic 

 fungi which bring about the destruction of the cortical tissue ; there 

 being no evidence of the penetration of the hyphse into living cells of 

 the cortex, the bast, or the cambium. The organisms found in the 

 slime are harmless guests, living on the sap exuded from the tree. He 

 agrees with Hansen in considering the oidiura-form not as belonging 

 genetically to Endomyces Magnusii, but as an independent organism, the 

 Oidium Ludwigii of Hansen. 



The only bacterial organisms found with certainty in the slime are 

 Leuconostoc Lagerheimii and Micrococcus dendroporthos. 



Prof. F. Ludwig ** adds a further note on the brown slime caused 

 by Torula monilioides ; on the association of Endomyces and Leuconostoc 

 in the slime of the oak ; and on the "musk-slime" caused by the Fusa- 

 r'tum form of Nectria aquseductum. 



* Flora, lxxxviii. (1901) pp. 319-32 (pis.). 



t Cf. this Journal, ante, p. 69. 



% Ceutralbl. Bakt., 2" Abt., vii. (1901) pp. 313-26 (1 pi.). 



§ Tom. cit., pp. 326-38 (2 pis.). 



|| Centralbl. Bakt., 2' 8 Abt., vii. (1901) pp. 113-28, 179-89, '229-38, 274-81, 

 338-50 (2 pis. aDd 6 figs.). % Cf. this Journal, 1894, p. 604. 



** Tom. cit., pp 350-2. 



