290 The North American Cup-Fungi 



plausible explanation in so far as it applies to the species men- 

 tioned above. The only difficulty is that it does not agree with 

 the writer's observations on species of some genera in which the 

 apothecia are often shallow cup-shaped or entirely flat. 



The writer claims that the eccentricity of the ascostome is an 

 absolutely fixed character in certain genera, especially Phillipsia 

 and Cookeina, and has no relation to the concavity of the cup or 

 to the direction of the light. Unfortunately, these genera are 

 confined to the tropics. If Dr. Buller had had the opportunity 

 of examining and observing these forms in the field, the writer is 

 certain that he would have modified his views on this point. 



Since the publication of these views, Boedijn (I.e.) has pub- 

 lished a paper on "The genera Phillipsia and Cookeina in Nether- 

 lands India" in which he bears out the observations of the writer 

 as to the eccentricit\- of the ascostome in the asci of the species 

 of these genera. He states "Mostly the ascus jet takes a some- 

 what oblique direction owing to the eccentricity of the ascuspo- 

 rus. In this connection it may be noted that on a radial section 

 of a fruit body all opercula are pointing to the border of the 

 apothecium." This is in Cookeina sulcipes in which the cups 

 are shallow. In Phillipsia, in which the apothecia are defined as 

 "concave or plane," he also indicates "Operculum eccentric." 



Thus we conclude that the eccentricity has nothing to do 

 with the concavity of the cup. If Boedijn's conclusions are 

 correct the eccentricit\- of the ascostome, since it is always 

 directed toward the outside of the apothecium, is a device for 

 scattering the spores as shot are scattered when fired from a gun 

 instead of shooting them straight up in the air. If the asco- 

 stomes are directed toward the outer margin of the apothecium 

 and the cup is deeply depressed the spores will be shot upward 

 as indicated by Buller. Again if Boedijn's conclusions are correct 

 the ascostomes are eccentric anyway even though the apothecia 

 are flat. These conclusions bear out the writer's observations. 



Mycophagy (page 18) 



While none of the cup-fungi are deadly poisonous and most 

 of them are usable as food, if collected in sufficient quantity, the 

 spring mushroom {Morchella esculenta) is probably the most 

 widely used in this connection. In our earlier pages we pub- 

 lished some records as to the profusion in which this species often 

 occurs. Although the writer has frequently collected the morel 



