204 PBTCH : THE FUNGI 



thin films of this <>n cover glasses, and Inverting them over 

 damp lambers. Growth at first was identical with thai in 

 the h - g drops of comb extract. At the end of a fortnight 



I hypheB formed terminal pear-shaped swellin.es. 18 x 9^. 

 rather like the conidia <>f Phytopkthora, but not cut off by a 



wall immediately belon them, [nstead of forming 

 conidia. growth continued as a bypha from the apex of the 

 swelling and lefl an intercalated oval cell. During the follow- 

 ing month this frequently occurred. The terminal swelling 

 were oval, pear-shaped, or almost spherical, and two or three 

 often produced in succession, hut the hypha invariably 

 reverted to it- original mode of growth after a short distance 

 Neither on serial I tranches or creeping mycelium was it possible 

 to reproduce the " conidia " of the sphere. Cultures on 

 sterilized comb were also tried bu1 were equally fruitless. 



The spherical "conidia " of the sphere do not germinate 

 No growth has been obtained from these on any medium, 

 fluid or solid. Tins negatives the idea thai the oval conidia 



are identical with the spherical form, hut modified by their 



crowded growth in the interior of the sphere. 



There is not in the actual comb substance thai abundance 



of mycelium which mighl be expected to exist judging from 



the luxuriance of the external growth. At a depth of 200 /< 



(the wall is I 2 mm. thick and strengthened at the angles) 



hypha' are scarce. Near the Surface are hypha' ahoiit '.\ /u 



in diameter which emerge to form the superficial mycelium ; 



and deeper, bu1 apparently continuous with the former are 



very fine byphjB, 1*6 2fidiameter. Sections of the comb do 



nol fall to pieces bu1 may be disintegrated by dilute potash. 



It if improbable thai this small quantity of myoelium aote 



a binding material, as suggested i>\ Holtermann (7). The 



firmest combs are those which bavehardlj anj fungus growth, 



and theii fragility increases with the in< of the fundus 



indeed it is often impossible to remove from it- oavity (except 



in small fragments) a comb which has produced an agaric. 



I deterioration of the comb substance is probablj caused 



