COPRINUS COMATUS 



151 



ment, which the author has frequently observed in various parts of 

 England. 



In Fig. 59 is shown, one-third its natural size, a fruit-bod}' which 

 was gathered in a field 

 in England and then 

 set in a vertical position 

 under a bell-jar. As 

 the pileus expanded, 

 spores began to fall. 

 The black spore-deposit 

 upon the paper around 

 the base of the stipe 

 was formed in the 

 course of several hours. 

 About three-quarters of 

 the pileus has dis- 

 appeared owing to 

 autodigestion, and the 

 useless remnants of the 

 gills and pileus-flesh at 

 the rim are tucked away 

 in the form of a neat 

 roll. An earlier stage 

 of the same fruit-body 

 beneath the bell- jar is 

 shown in these Re- 

 searches, Volume I, Fig. 

 72, p. 206. These two 

 illustrations afford con- 

 clusive evidence that, under natural conditions, the spores of 

 Coprinus comafus are discharged into the air and are carried off by 

 the wind and, therefore, that normally they do not become involved, 

 as Massee erroneously supposed, in the liquid products of auto- 

 digestion. A full discussion of this matter will be found in Volume I. ^ 



Structure of the Mature Hymenium. Basidial Dimorphism and 

 its Significance. The Functions of the Paraphyses. — If, with a 



1 Vol. i, 1909, p. 206. 



Fig. 59. — Coprinus comatus. The liberation of 

 spores. The fruit-body was gathered in a 

 field and then set in a vortical position under a 

 bell-jar. As the pileus expanded, spores began 

 to fall. The black spore-deposit upon the 

 paper around the base of the stipe was formed 

 in the course of several hours. About three- 

 quarters of the pileus has disappeared owing to 

 autodigestion. The rim of the pileus is rolling 

 upwards. An earlier stage is shown in Vol. I, 

 Fig. 72, p. 206. Photographed by P. Grafton. 

 3- natural size. 



