130 RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



that the dimorphism of the basidia permits of a closer basidial 

 packing than would be possible if the basidia were monomorphic, and 

 that, thereby, hymenial space is economised for spore-production. 

 The significance of the marked protuberancy of the long basidia in 

 Coprinus fruit-bodies thus became clear for the first time. However, 

 my communication was a brief one and was not accompanied by 

 any illustrations. 



In 1914, I gave an account of the structure of the fruit-body of 

 Bolbitius flavidus and showed that the mechanism for the production 

 and liberation of spores in the genus Bolbitius is entirely different 

 from that in Coprinus.^ My observations went to prove that the 

 phenomenon of deliquescence, while of vital importance in securing 

 the free liberation of spores from the pileus of a Coprinus, is only a 

 post-mortem change in the fruit-body of a Bolbitius. 



In 1914, a fortnight before the Great War broke out, I sent 

 a fully illustrated paper called The Production and Liberation of 

 Spores in Coprinus sterquilinus to Germany for publication in 

 Pfeffer's Festschrift. This paper, under the direction of the late 

 Professor Klebs, was translated into German and published in the 

 Festschrift in 1915.^ It contains a full account of the details of 

 structure of Coprinus sterquilinus together with an expression of 

 my mature views on the organisation of the Coprinus Type of fruit- 

 body. The entirely new points of general interest so far as the 

 genus Coprinus is concerned, which were set out in illustrations for 

 the first time in this paper, are : (1) the dimorphism of the basidia, 

 (2) the fact that in the zone of spore-discharge the long basidia 

 discharge their spores before the short, (3) the wasted spores which 

 cling to the gills particularly at their edges, and (4) the drop of fluid 

 which is excreted at the base of each spore a few seconds before the 

 spore is violently discharged into the air. INIy observations on the 

 discharge of spores from the basidia of Puccinia graminis were also 

 mentioned, and the interesting generalisation was arrived at that 



1 A. H. R. Buller, "The Fruit-body Mechanism of Bolbitius." Transactions 

 of the British Mycological Society for 1913, vol. iv, 1914, pp. 235-238. 



2 A. H. R. Buller, " Die Erzcugung und Befreiung der Sporen bei Coprinus 

 sifrquilinus:' Pfeffer's Festschrift, identical with Jahrb. f. wiss. Bot., Bd. 56, 1915. 

 For my paper vide pp. 299-329, Taf. II and III. 



