12 INTRODUCTION. 



In the tribe of Phalloidse the spores are immersed in a viscid 

 fluid, which would prevent their diffusing in such a manner. 

 This gelatinous substance has a peculiar attraction for insects, 

 and in feeding on this slimy substance they imbibe spores and 

 transfer them from place to place. The horse is even a beast 

 to keep up the continuity of a certain edible mushroom, the 

 Agaricus arvensisor horse mushroom. It is said that the spores 

 will not germinate unless it passes through the entrails of the 

 horse, which at the same time disseminate it. In England the 

 droppings of the horses at the riding schools and circuses is 

 highly prized for mushroom beds. 



Spores are named according to their form and place in the 

 systemic arrangement. Stylospores are really Basidiospores in 

 the parasitic uridinae, and only a stage of Ascosporous fungi. 

 Conidiospores are also of the same nature, onh^ they are free, 

 that is, without a basidia or stalk. They are a stage of summer 

 spores for the telentospores, to carry the plant over winter. 

 They are also called the pseudospores, for they germinate and 

 form first a prothallus, like unto ferns and hepatica. 



Spermatia are minute elevated bodies on the leaves of green 

 plants associated with the uridinae, and are supposed to belong 

 to the cycle of the life of Spheriacese fungi. 



Sporangia are produced on the tips of branches of delicate 

 threads ; and when ripe they dehisce and shed the spores. 

 They are restricted to moulds, mildew, etc. 



Zoospores are oval spores contained in a sack, which, when 

 ripe, opens and sheds the motile spores. Their movement 

 is caused by small thread-like appendages. Oogonia or female 

 fructification commences by a mj^celium swelling. Antheridia, 

 the counterpart of Oogonia, are the male part of the plant, and 

 are fertilized b}- conjugation, when oospores are formed. Zygo- 

 spores are limited to the Mucor family, and are fertilized by 

 conjugation. 



