70 



RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



create spaces between adjacent basidia. When the hymenium is 

 very young, before spore-discharge has begun and whilst the gills 

 are still inclined downwards in a direction more or less parallel to the 

 axis of the stipe, the basidia are packed very closely together, as is 

 shown in Fig. 34 at A ; but, as the pileus expands and the gills 

 become stretched more and more horizontally, the basidia come 



A B 



Fig. 34. — Bolbitius flavidus. Comparison of a very young 

 hymenium with a very old hymenium, in surface view, 

 to show the effect of the swelling of the paraphyses 

 on the increase of area of the gills. A, very young 

 hymenium before the production of spores ; B, very 

 old hymeniunn after the discharge of the spores ; 

 only the basidia have been sketched. D, ver3^ young 

 hymenium : E, very old hymenium ; both showing 

 paraphyses, p, and the stalks of the basidia, b. C, the 

 same as E, but showing not only the paraphyses, p, 

 but also the tops of the collapsed basidia, b. 

 Magnification, 500. 



to be more freely spaced, as shown in Fig. 34 at B. The hymenial 

 growth during the stretching and increase in size of the gills, just as 

 in the Coprini, is brought about entirely by the increase in size of 

 the paraphyses. The growth of these cells may be realised by com- 

 paring the drawings D and E in Fig. 34. D represents a surface- 

 section through a very young hymenium, the larger elements being 

 the paraphyses and the smaller the narrow shafts of the basidia. 

 E shows a similar drawing for a fully expanded hymenium. The 



