OATS, AND BARLEY. 97 



also produced in such profusion that in a smutted district there is 

 not an inch of ground free from them. 



The spores of the Smut fungus, on germination, of course 

 reproduce the disease in cereals. They do not germinate on dry 

 ground or in dry air, but will retain their vitality, if kept dry, for 

 at least a year. We have kept smutted ears in papers for a year 

 in a dry room, and at the end of this time the spores of the 

 fungus have been found to have suffered no injury. The spores, 

 like ordinary seeds, require moisture for germination, and if they 

 are put in a fihii of water they will germinate in from six to twelve 

 hours. The very highest powers of the microscope are required to 

 see this germination, and if objectives are used which magnify one 

 thousand diameters, germinating Smut-spores will be seen as at K, 

 L, and M. On germination, the outer coat of the spore bursts or 

 cracks, and out of the fissure a minute transparent bladder 

 emerges, which by budding soon gives rise to a second cell or 

 bladder, as at K. As growth is continued, further budding takes 

 place, at right and left, as well as at the top of the buds, as shown 

 at L and M. If the spores are grown in the juices from farmyard 

 manure diluted with water, the budding becomes much more 

 profuse, as at N. This bursting and budding of the minute 

 spores, which can be observed under the microscope, takes place 

 naturally in the ground in damp weather, and the purplish black 

 Smut-spores give place to innumerable quantities of these exces- 

 sively small, transparent, spore-like bladders. 



It is a remarkable fact that these buds from Smut-spores 

 cannot be distinguished under the microscope from yeast. They 

 are capable of growing and multiplying for an indefinite period of 

 time in this yeast condition. Yeast is of course a fungus, and 

 observers are not wanting who say that germinated Smut-spores 

 are not only like a yeast, but they are positively yeast itself. 

 Whether this idea is a correct one is somewhat uncertain, but the 

 fact remains that yeast and germinated Smut appear to be identi- 

 cal. Both excite alcoholic fermentation. Smut-spores which have 

 germinated in our fields lead a non-parasitic life in and on the 

 ground. It is remarkable that the yeast-like buds from Smut- 

 spores are not only capable of producing a vast number of other 

 yeast-like bads, but some of these buds, probably influenced by 



New Series, Vol. I. 



1888. H 



