SMUTS. / / 



his hands and clotliing became dusted with this 

 powder ; and if at the time he should have been clad 

 in sombre black, evidence will have been afforded 

 — in the rusty-looking tint of the pow^der w^hen 

 sprinkled upon his black continuations — that, how^ 

 ever sooty this powder might appear whilst still 

 adhering to the ears of corn, it has an evident brown 

 tint when in contact with one^s clothes. This 

 powder, minute as it is, every granule of it consti- 

 tutes a spore or protospore capable of germination, 

 and ultimately, after several intermediate stages, of 

 reproducing a fungus like the parent of which it 

 formed a part. During the growth of the plant its 

 virulent contents flow hke a poison through the 

 innermost tissues, and at length attack the peduncle 

 or axis of the spikelets of the ear, raising up the 

 essential organs and reducing them to a rudimentary 

 state. Brongniart, who made this species the 

 special subject of observation, states that the fleshy 

 mass which is occupied by the fungus consists 

 entirely of uniform tissue, presenting large, almost 

 quadrilateral cavities, separated by walls, composed 

 of one or two layers of very small cells filled with 

 a compact homogeneous mass of very minute gra- 

 nules, perfectly spherical and equal, slightly adher- 

 ing to each other, and at first green, afterwards 

 free or simply conglomerate towards the centre of 

 each mass, and of a pale rufous hue ; at length the 

 cellular walls disappear, the globules become com- 

 pletely insulated, and the whole mass is changed 



