COPRINUS STERQUILINUS 



201 



gills. The photomicrograph reproduced in Fig. 8G was taken with 

 the high power of the microscope and has a magnification of 480 

 diameters. The plane of focus passed through the spores of the 

 long basidia. The spores of the short basidia were below the plane 

 of focus but, nevertheless, here and there, the positions of some 



Fig. 85. — Coprinvs sterquilinus. Photomicrograph of the 

 surface of the hymenium of a gill. The spores of the 

 short basidia are in focus, those of the long basidia out 

 of focus. Magnification, 140. 



of them can be dimly perceived. Adjacent long basidia are well 

 separated from one another, so that any lateral jostling of their 

 spores is prevented. Short basidia, which are just as numerous 

 as the long basidia, occupy the spaces between the long basidia, 

 but they cannot be seen owing to their being out of focus. 



A cross-section of the hymenium on a smaller scale is shown 

 in Fig. 79 (p. 191) and on a larger one in Fig. 90, D (p. 210), from 

 which it will be seen that, whereas the bodies of the long basidia 

 are very markedly protuberant beyond the general level of the 

 exterior of the paraphyses, the bodies of the short basidia are not 



