12 FETCH : 



digging up expanded specimens of the latter species, one 

 frequently linds immature " eggs " attached to their bases. 

 Of course, the number of specimens gathered in thirteen days, 

 viz., 27, proves that immature eggs were present in the patch, 

 and could have been obtained by digging over the ground 

 carefully, but the point of interest; is that they were not in 

 imniediate connection with the expanded specimens. 



It is not too much to suppose that all these specimens 

 originated from the same mycelium. I Avould include those 

 of June, 1909, in the same category, since the patch occurred 

 on a bank well shaded by trees and with a northerly aspect, 

 and would therefore not be exposed to the full sunshine of the 

 dry period. Consequently it is of interest to note that only 

 two out of the thirty-nine specimens could be referred to the 

 form which has been considered to be S. gracile Berk. I have 

 previouslv pointed out that Berkeley, as is proved by the 

 paintings which he named, did not rely on the slender stalk as 

 a cli.aracter of Simblum, gracile, although it seems to have been 

 assumed that he did by subsequent autliors. As a matter of 

 fact, he referred to gracile both slender and stout-stalked 

 specimens, j)rovided they were of Ceylon origin. The two 

 specimens which occurred in this thirty-nine measured, (a) 

 total lieiglit 10*8 cms., stalk 1*5 cm. diameter, head 2*4 cms. 

 diameter and 2*5 cms. high ; (b) total height 9 cms., stalk 1 "4 

 cm. diameter, head 2 cms. diameter and 2*5 cms. high. The 

 occurrence of these specimens in company with others in which 

 the head was of the same diameter as the stalk, or only slightly 

 exceeded it, is in confirmation of the former conclusion that 

 S. gracile is only a form of 8. periphragmoides. 



Of the specimens measured since the publication of the 

 previous paper, the smallest was only 6 cms. higli, while the 

 largest attained a height of 15 cms. The diameters of the 

 stalks were 1 -3 cm. and 2-5 cms. respectively. 



The following abnormalities have been noted. In one 

 specimen the head was laterally compressed and bent over 

 almost horizontally, while in another the head curved over to 

 one side in almost a semicircle, but was not laterally com- 

 pressed. Specimens with part of the jelly of the volva adher- 

 ing to the head are not uncommon, and in one instance the 



