Lilelli^ence and Miscellaneous Articles, 493 



a paper on the hymeniumiOV fructifying membrane, of the Fungi. In 

 this paper the author endeavours to establish that the Hymenothecii 

 which form the fifth order of Persoon's Synopsis Fungorunif which 

 all authors have adopted and which composes tlie first class of 

 Fries's Systema Mycologicum, are too numerous; tliat they contain 

 genera which have no relation to one another; and that they ought 

 to be divided into two classes. 



M. L^veille has taken as a basis the structure of the hymenium ; 

 he says, that if the surface of the lamina of Agaricus micaceus is ex- 

 amined in profile with a microscope, two kinds of organs are seen, 

 the first vesicular, projecting, diaphanous, conical, or cylindrical, 

 in form of a club, and placed at certain distances one from the 

 other ; the others representing mammae, more or less projecting, 

 very close to one another, and ending in four points, each of which 

 bears a spore. The author gives to the first of these organs the 

 name of cy slides (from Cystidia), to the secontl that of barides (from 

 Baridid). The cy slides do not exist in a great number of species, 

 but the barides may always be found ; their existence may be shown 

 on the first Agaric met with, on the Dcedale^o^ Boleti, Hydna, Thele- 

 jphorcB, and Clavarice ; they are tetrasporous, disporous, or mono- 

 sporous, according as they have two or four divisions j or are simple, 

 as in the Tremellce. These organs are not new ; Micheli made them 

 known, as also did Bulliard and Nees von Esenhcck. 



After some general remarks on these organs, on the spores, and 

 their mode of emission, M. Leveille shows that modern authors 

 have erroneously taken for cells filled with spores the hymenial tissue 

 itself, which is composed of elongated cells, most of them having 

 the same direction, parallel to the plane of the receptacle upon 

 which they are fixed, and not perpendicular as M. Nees has repre- 

 sented them in his System der Pilze. 



The author then treats of the structure of the hymenittm of the 

 Helvello'ides, which Hedwig made known. Taking as an example 

 Peziza aurantia, and examining a slice with the microscope, he 

 found that this hymenium is composed of elongated cells placed side 

 by side, perpendicular to the plane on which they are fixed ; their 

 structure consists in a single membrane, thin and diaphanous ; they 

 contain eight spores, which they eject like a cloud, suddenly, and 

 from time to time in the air. Among the cells others of the same 

 length are seen ; they are diaphanous, empty, and filiform. Hed- 

 wig calls the first ihecce, the second paraphyses -, the existence of 

 the latter, like that of the cystides, is not constant. A plate, drawn 

 after nature, by M. Decuisne, represents all these organs taken from 

 several species of Fungi, and shows that the terms free or fixed 

 utricules, ascijixi, asci liberie employed by authors to distinguish 

 the fructification of Agariciy Boleti,ClavaricF, &c., from those of the 

 HelvellcCy PezizcBy or of the Geoglossa, are improper, and not in the 

 least suitable. Their differences being known, the division of Per- 

 soon's fifth order or of Fries's first class into two classes is natural. 

 The first takes in the Hymenomycetes^ or Basichospori j the second 

 the Hymcnotheciiy or Thccospori. The one is composed of Agaricif 



