TERMITE FUNGI : A RESUME. 307' 



in termite nests in Travancore. In his description he stated : 

 " They look at first sight extremely hke some neat variety of 

 Xylaria polymorpha, with a slender stem and pointed barren 

 apex. There are , however, no perithecia beneath the jet black 

 cuticle ; and the structm-e is not delicately filamentous, as 

 in Xylaria. On the contrar}-, the mass consists of very 

 irregular, swollen, and sometimes constricted, more or less 

 anastomosing, and more or less densely compacted threads. 

 Towards the margin the substance is firm, but looser in the 

 centre, so that the individual threads easily separate." They 

 were forwarded to Berkeley by Dr. E. J. Waring, who described 

 them as occurring in termite cavities, hanging down from the 

 sides in clusters of from fom* to ten, of various sizes and shapes ; 

 the natives called them " puttu-manga " (white ant mango), 

 and informed him that they were produced by the termites, 

 and were highly valued for medicinal purposes. Currey's 

 figures show that they were ovoid or spherical bodies, 1'5 to 

 2*7 cm. long, with a narrow stalk; only on one of three 

 specimens, which constituted the whole sample, does he figure 

 what may be regarded as a barren pointed apex. 



A further account of this sclerotium was given by Shortt in 

 1867 ; he states that it grows only in old and deserted nests, 

 never in chambers which are inha,bited by the termites. 



These sclerotia have been collected in Ceylon ; and I have 

 recently received, per Mr. C. G. Lloyd, specimens collected 

 by the Rev. J. Gillet in termite nests in Africa. 



Edible fungi have for a long time been known to grow on 

 termite nests in India. In the "Gardeners' Chronicle" for 

 1869, p. 813, xmder the heading" Mushrooms from White Ant 

 Soil," Berkeley quoted an extract from a letter from a corre- 

 spondent at Bangalore, who stated that he was tr3dng to grow 

 mushrooms from white ant soil, and asked for instructions. 

 His correspondent stated that he was making beds for trial and 

 getting the soil where the mushrooms grew spontaneously 

 brought in J and added that indications of success were apparent. 



In his comments Berkeley stated that there was a species 

 of Podaxon which grew very commonly on ants' nest soil, 

 but that he had no other information as to any other fungus 

 which is developed upon it likely at all to be esculent. 



