io6 British UredinecE and Ustilas^inea:. 



and putting into .this drop of water the spores whose 

 germination it is desired to watch ; as, however, the spores 

 do not germinate for several hours, the drop of water would 

 evaporate, unless means be taken to prevent it, before the 

 germination takes place. This is easily done by placing 

 the glass slide under a bell-glass, inverted over a plate of 

 water, so that it is kept continuously in a saturated atmo- 

 sphere. Any suitable object wall do to place the slide on ; 

 but the most convenient appliance will be found to be a 

 simple stand or rack (Fig. 9), which can be constructed 



Fig. 9. — Stand with slides for the culture of Uredine spores, placed on a plate of water, 

 and covered by a bell-glass. 



in a few minutes out of two flat pieces of gutta-percha 

 and four glass rods. The gutta-percha which is used 

 for soling boots answers well enough. If two oblong 

 pieces of equal size, say three and a half by four and a half' 

 inches (9X12 cm.), be taken, and a hole bored at each 

 of the four corners, and through each pair of holes let 

 a glass rod be passed, a very simple stand is made at the 

 cost of a few pence. For the glass rods an old barometer 

 tube, cut into suitable lengths with a file, does well enough. 

 The great advantage of such a stand is, that when the 

 slides are laid across the rods, they touch only at two 



