188 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



Ceratomyces rostratus, nov. sp. 



Reddish brown. Receptacle long, slender, expanding slightly up- 

 wards, consisting of about twelve superposed cells. Perithecium 

 consisting of a clearly distinguished neck and an inflated oval basal por- 

 tion, completely filled with spores and asci, which pushes the appen- 

 dage to one side and continues directly the axis of the receptacle ; the 

 neck very elongate, irregularly cylindrical, its terminal portion at ma- 

 turity abruptly bent upon itself, the recurved portion tapering slightly 

 to the hunched asymmetrical apex : the cell rows made up of seventy 

 cells, more or less. Appendage arising from a broad base flattened at 

 maturity by pressure from the base of the perithecium consisting of 

 about six superposed cells bearing numerous branches which may in 

 turn be several times branched. Spores about 75 X 3.5 yu.. Perithe- 

 cia, basal portion, 110-150 X 65-90 /x ; neck, including recurved por- 

 tion, longest, 1.17 mm. Appendage about 90-100 n long, its longest 

 branches about 200 fi. Receptacle, large, about 260 /x long by 55 /x 

 at the distal end. 



On the inferior surface of Hydrocombus fmbriatus Melsh, Massa- 

 chusetts, Texas ; Philhydrus cinctus Say, Maine. 



The most remarkable species of the genus, the enormously elongated 

 neck of the perithecium becoming hooked only in fully mature speci- 

 mens, and serving an evident purpose in the spore dissemination. 



