INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1918-19 83 



V. Miscellaneous. 



During the mycological meeting in February, the great- 

 est interest was aroused by the demonstration of fungi 

 parasitic on man and the higher animals by Captain 

 Froilano de Mello, Director of Bacteriological Services, 

 Goa. Captain de Mello worked in the laboratory for about 

 a fortnight with material brought from Goa as well as some 

 obtained locally, and was able to give a detailed demon- 

 stration of the technique required for the isolation and 

 cultivation of these fungi. 



Mr. S. N. Bal, Assistant Professor of Botany, Science 

 College, Calcutta University, spent about a fortnight in the 

 laboratory in March and April, as he proposes to take up 

 mycological work in Calcutta. Mr. J. C. Nag, Senior Pro- 

 fessor of Botany, Presidency College, Calcutta, also visited 

 us with the same object in view, in June. Economic myco- 

 logists in India will welcome the increasing tendency to- 

 wards the study of the subject in other than its economic 

 bearings in Indian Universities, as there is a great field as 

 yet but little explored in this direction. Large collections 

 of named fungi were given to Mr. Bal, Mr. Nag, the Central 

 Hindu College (Benares), St. Xavier's College (Bombay), 

 Baroda College and the Government College, Lahore. Some 

 Indian Loranthacece were also sent to Professor Weir in 

 the United States, cultures of Phytophthora to various 

 enquirers and some fungi parasitic on scale insects to the 

 Government Mycologist, Ceylon. 



During the year a development of great importance for 

 the co-ordination of mycological work in the Empire took 

 place. Proposals by the Imperial War Conference for the 

 formation of an Imperial Bureau of Mycology to be situated 

 in London were accepted, and the Government of India have 

 agreed to subscribe £250 annually for three years in the 

 first instance towards its cost. The lines on which such 

 a Bureau could be of most use to mycologists in India were 

 discussed at the meeting of Indian mycologists in February, 



