180 FETCH : 



appears translucent when viewed under a slight magnification, 

 and sometimes serves to indicate the character of the stroma 

 without cutting sections, but it requires considerable practice, 

 in many cases, to distinguish it from the translucent mass of 

 spores which fills the orifice of a pycnidium. 



The asci are at first long and cylindric, with a short tapering 

 pedicel. The apex is thickened, and forms a distinct cap. 

 In general, the ascus contains eight filiform spores, almost as 

 long as the ascus, wound in a long spiral, but in some cases 

 only two or four spores are j)roduced. The spores become 

 septate, and then divide into short cylindrical lengths, which 

 in many cases subsequently increase considerabty in breadth, 

 and become bajrel-shaped or oval. During these changes 

 the breadth of the ascus notably increases. When the part- 

 spores are first formed, they retain their original position, 

 and the ascus, though broader, is still cylindric ; but ulti- 

 matety the arrangement of the part-spores becomes quite 

 irregular, and the ascus is then more or less clavate. It is 

 not uncommon to find individual asci which present either 

 the first and second, or the second and third, stages of develop- 

 ment of the spores, with a corresponding difference of diameter 

 in their upper and lower parts. Presumably the part-spores 

 are liberated by the complete deliquescence of the asci ; I 

 have not been able to discover any sign of dehiscence. 

 Paraphyses have not been observed in the perithecia of 

 Hypocrella. 



The part -spores are, in general, rod-like with rounded ends, 

 or narrow-oval, or barrel-shaped. Owing to the changes in 

 shape which they may undergo subsequent to their first 

 formation, it is difficult to be sure that one has, in any given 

 case, the final form before him. One of the most remarkable 

 features of the genus is the scarcity of the mature Hypocrella 

 stage. In the majority of the species described the asci have 

 been immature, and the same is true of most of the collections 

 made in Ceylon during the last fifteen years. 



The differences between the available ascosporesof difierent 

 species are very slight. Hypocrella phyllogena constitutes an 

 exception in some of its forms, but the distinction is not 

 constant. In some collections of this species the part-spore 



