THE INAEQUI-HYMENIIFERAE 119 



were given in Volume II, Chapter IX. Those for the Inaequi- 

 hymeniiferous or Coprinus Type may be summarised as follows : 



(1) The gills are very thin. 



(2) The gills are parallel-sided or subparallel-sided. 



(3) The gills are not positively geotropic. 



(4) Usually the hymenium on one side of the gill at maturity 



looks slightly downwards and that on the other side slightly 

 upwards. 



(5) The spores ripen in succession from below upwards on each 



gill. 



(6) The spores are discharged in succession from below upwards 



on each gill. 



(7) Autodigestion proceeds from below upwards on each gill 



and removes those parts of the gills which have become 

 spore-free and which, if they continued in existence, would 

 become mechanical hindrances to the fall of the remaining 

 spores. 

 All the above facts are correlated with one another. In the 

 genus Coprinus the ripening and discharge of the spores from below 

 upwards on each gill,- and the autodigestion from below upwards on 

 euch gill, are special arrangements which permit of successful spore- 

 discharge from parallel-sided non-geotropic gills. This conclusion is 

 drawn from the facts which will be brought forward in giving an 

 account of various Coprini in subsequent Chapters, and it is set 

 forth here so that the reader may have a guide from the first for 

 the understanding of the various Sub-types of the Coprinus Type 

 which are about to be described. 



The chief points in connection with the mechanism for the 

 production and liberation of spores in the Aequi-hymeniiferae or 

 Non-Coprinus Agaricineae, which contrast with those already 

 enumerated for the Inaequi-hymeniiferae, may be summarised as 

 follows : 



(1) The gills in a few species are very thin but in most species 



are relatively thick. 



(2) The gills are not parallel-sided, but are more or less acutely 



wedge-shaped in cross-section. 



(3) The gills are positively geotropic. 



