14 Bj'itish Urediiiece and UstilaginecE. 



Although the paraphyses themselves, when seen singly as 

 transparent objects, appear hyaline or yellowish, yet en 

 masse they are almost black in many species, and in all 

 distinctly darker than the surrounding tissues. Their 

 function, however, is not confined to the attraction of the 

 insect visitors ; they also (as has been already stated) main- 

 tain the spermatial globule in its place upon the leaf, 

 and prevent it being bodily washed away. With regard 

 to the presence of some saccharine matter in the spermo- 

 gonial masses, I may add that I have found, in confirmation 

 of Rathay's statements, that the spermogonial contents of 

 Piiecinia obsciira both reduced Fehling's solution and also 

 gave the reaction with the indigo-carmine test. 



The so-called spermatia were long regarded as not 

 possessing the faculty of germination, Cornu,* however, 

 found that when they were placed in water, in which a 

 little white cane sugar had been dissolved, and exposed to 

 the free action of the air, they were capable of germination. 

 During the past five years I have repeated M. Cornu's 

 experiments, at first employing white sugar as the nutrient 

 material. Under these conditions the individual spermatia 

 at first assume a more regular outline than one commonly 

 observes them to have as they are naturally exuded from 

 the spermogonial receptacles (Plate I. Figs. 6, 7). They at 

 one extremity give out a minute prolongation. This pro- 

 longation does not develop into a germ-tube, but gradually 

 increases in size, until it acquires the size and form of 

 its parent spermatium ; at the end of twenty-four hours 

 many of these twin bodies, joined end to end, will be 

 observed in the culture (Plate I. Figs. 8, 9). Resembling 

 Saccharomyces spores as these bodies do, I at first thought 

 some stray yeast-spores had accidentally gained admission 



* Q,oxvm,\Btilletin de la Societe Bot, de France (1876), tome xxiii. pp. 120, 121. 

 Compt. rendus, January 21, 1875. 



