OF CERTAIN TEKMITE NESTS. 187 



which he called the sclerotium of the fungus : in a brief note 

 he says that he found it in Ceylon, Borneo, Java, and Singa- 

 pore. In 1899 the same observer (6) published the most 

 complete account that has yet been written on the subject, 

 though it has not been found possible to confirm many of his 

 statements. He named the agaric Pluteus Rajap, and figured 

 what purports to be the comb. In the same year Hennings 

 and Nyman re-described Holtermann's agaric as Pholiota 

 Janseana (9), and later as Flammula Janseana (1) : they 

 recorded in addition Pluteus bogoriensis (9) and Pluteus 

 Treubianus (10) from termite nests. All these were found 

 at Buitenzorg. 



Hennings (12) in 1904 also described Pluteus termitum from 

 termite nests in Brazil. 



Doflein (13) in 1905 published an account of the termite 

 nests from an entomological standpoint, and recorded feeding 

 experiments with the fungi growing normally on the comb. 

 His investigations were conducted in Ceylon. 



In the present paper I have endeavoured to give an account 

 of the various fungi and their relation to each other and to 

 the termites. On several important points the necessary 

 evidence is still incomplete, but although experiments are 

 still in progress there appears to be no immediate prospect 

 of supplying the missing links. 



The Nest. 



Termite nests, or hills, are common in all except the 

 highest districts in Ceylon. They occur at Bandarawela 

 (4,000 ft.), but not at Nuwara Eliya (6,200 ft.) or Hakgala 

 (5,600 ft.). There is however a current impression that 

 termites are gradually extending their range into these 

 higher districts. 



There is not in Ceylon, as far as is known, that variety of 

 form and size which is found in Australia and Africa : all the 



