THE INAEQUI-HYMENIIFERAE 131 



in the Uredineae and Hymenomycetes the mechanism for the 

 discharge of the spores from the sterigmata is exactly the same. 



In 1918, I pubHshed some critical remarks on the generic 

 positions of Psathyra urticaecola, Coprinus plicatilis, and Psathyrella 

 disseminata} I showed that Psathyra urticaecola is really a 

 Coprinus, and therefore renamed it Coprinus urticaecola (Berk, et 

 Broome) Buller. An analysis of Cojirinus plicatilis allowed me to 

 draw the conclusion that this fungus is a true Coprinus and should 

 be retained in that genus. My observations on Psathyrella dis- 

 seminata clearly proved that this fungus is not a Coprinus and that 

 Quelet and Lange were in error in placing it in that genus. 



Most of the observations on Coprini which I have recorded in 

 the papers referred to above will be embodied in the next-succeeding 

 Chapters which deal with the various Coprinus Sub-types. 



In 1923, Cappelletti,^ in the belief that the phenomenon of auto- 

 digestion had not hitherto been investigated, published a paper 

 called Uautolisi delV imenio nel genere Coprinus in which he treated 

 of the ripening of the spores on each gill from below upwards and 

 the destruction of the gill-tissues from below upwards in several 

 species of Coprinus, his remarks being illustrated by a drawing 

 showing the autolysis of a gill of Coprinus atramentarius. In 

 general, his observations confirm my own ; but, since he was not 

 aware of my writings on Coprinus, he failed to notice many of the 

 finer details of organisation ^ in the fruit-bodies which he examined. 

 Among his observations are the following. In the hymenium 

 the paraphyses and basidia are strongly united, but they can be 

 separated by subjecting them to Schultze's fluid. From above 

 downwards in a gill the capacity of the cell-walls for absorbing 

 ruthenium -red gradually diminishes, and at the base of a gill there is 

 a boundary line between an upper zone that is colourable and a lower 

 zone undergoing disorganisation which is not. The destruction of 



A. H. R. Buller, " Some Critical Remarks on the Generic Positions of Psathyra 

 urticaecola Berk, et Broome, Coprinus plicatilis Fr.. and Psathyrella disseminata 

 Pers.," Trans. Brit. Myc. Soc, for 1916, vol. v, 1917, pp. 482-489. 



^ 0. Cappelletti, " L'autolisi dell' imenio nel genere Coprinus " (Persoon), Nuovo 

 Giornale Botanico Italiano, vol. xxx, pp. 73-93. 



E.g., the dimorphism of the basidia, the very narrow zone of spore-discharge, 

 the shooting away of the spores, drop-excretion at the spore-hilum, etc. 



