82 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



formation of the Ceriomyces-f orm is due to humidity. He points out 

 that Ceriomyces can no longer be considered as exclusively a form of 

 Polyporeae. 



Cystidia of Coprinus atramentarius.* — A. H. R. Buller gives ;i 

 resume" of what has been known as to the presence and function of 

 cystidia in Hymenomycetes, and then takes up the Coprini with a special 

 study of Coprinus atramentarius. The gills of that species are wide, 

 thin and flexible, with massive cystidia that extend across the space 

 from gill to gill. At maturity these disappear by auto-digestion, just 

 before the ripening of the spores, though their prop-function is retained 

 till the last moment necessary. The author has examined many specie- 

 of the genus. In only three has he found cystidia absent (in C. comatus, 

 G. sterquilinus, and G. plicatiloides), and in these he found that the 

 swollen edges sufficed to keep the gills apart during spore-formation. 



Mushroom Culture.! — M. Ponroy draws attention to the necessity 

 of studying conditions of humidity in order to secure successful beds 

 of mushrooms. If these were properly understood, he thinks the mush- 

 room might be grown at any season, and that the quality and quantity 

 would be greatly enhanced. Different degrees of humidity he finds art 

 necessary according to the stage of growth, and if the state of the 

 atmosphere in the caves where mushrooms are grown were properly 

 considered and regulated, the result in increased crops would repay all 

 the trouble taken. 



Do the Higher Fungi require Lime ? % — S. Hori was led to investi- 

 gate this subject as he contrasted the development of higher and lower 

 fungal forms with those of the higher and lower Algae. It had been 

 proved that oxalate of potash was poisonous for organisms that require 

 lime ; for those that do not require lime it was harmless. Hori grew an 

 Agaric, a species of Hypochnus and various moulds in his research 

 cultures, and he found that, in certain fungi, oxalate had a distinct 

 influence on the growth, which seemed to prove the indispensability of 

 lime. Further communications are promised. 



Mycological Notes.§ — F. v. Hohnel re-states the necessity of revising 

 the old genera and species and of re-writing the diagnoses. For this 

 purpose he has overhauled a great deal of material in the larger herbaria 

 at Berlin, Kew, Paris, and Upsala. The present paper deals with about 

 sixty diagnoses of these old plants. Hohnel has found it necessary 

 to establish the following new genera :— Glypeolella (Microthyriaceas) ; 

 Coccochorella (Dothideaceaa) ; Apiosporina (near to Capuodiaceae) ; Siro- 

 thryiella (Pyknothyrieaj) ; Trichopellella similar to Trichopeltis but with 

 2-celled brown spores ; Pareny ferula to include Meliola Macoivan- 

 iana, which differs from a true Meliola in the character of the peri- 

 thecial membrane. 



* Ann. Bot., xxiv. (1910) pp. 613-29 (1 pi.). 



f Bull. Soc. Mycol. France, xxvi. (1910) pp. 298-306. 



t Flora, n. a., i. (1910) pp. 447-8. 



§ SB. Akad. Wiss. Math-Nat. KL, cxix. (1910) pp. 393-473. 



