194 



RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



tended to be repelled from the latter. Owing to their adhesiveness, 

 however, the spores were unable to leave the plates after having 

 once come in contact with them. When the plates were left 

 charged for some hours, the spores, Avhich fell in large numbers 

 from the piece of pileus, gradually formed simple or branching 

 chains which sometimes stretched almost from one plate to the 

 other, thus indicating the direction of the lines of force between 

 them. The formation of chains not only demonstrated the 



c 



B 



Fig. 68. — The paths of spores falling between two brass plates. A, shows how 

 the spores deviate from the vertical when the plates are suddenly electrified 

 with charges of opposite signs. B, zigzag path of a spore produced by 

 alternately reversing the charges on the plates. C, path of a spore pro- 

 duced by charging the plates, making them neutral, giving them reversed 

 charges, &c., in succession. 



tendency of the spores to be repelled from the plates and from 

 one another, but also the fact that the spores strongly adhere 

 to surfaces with which they may come in contact. 



When the plates were suddenly charged, it was found that 

 proximity of a spore to one plate rather than the other was not 

 a factor deciding to which of the two plates the spore should 

 move (Fig. 68, A). There seems to be no escape from the conclusion 

 that, either at the moment of discharge from the sterigmata or 

 within a very few seconds afterwards whilst falling through the 

 air, the majority of spores receive positive or negative electric 



