COPRINUS LAGOPUS 309 



(1) Wild fruit-bodies. When fresh horse-dung balls collected 

 from streets or stables in Winnipeg are kept for a few weeks in a 

 large glass chamber in the laboratory, Coprinus lagopus fruit-bodies 

 of medium size often make their appearance, as shown in Fig. 130 

 (p. 300) and at C and D in Fig. 138 (p. 316). Sometimes, however, 

 on the under side of old dung-masses kept in the laboratory, smaller 

 fruit-bodies come up, as shown in Fig. 131 (p. 301). Occasionally, 

 on the under side of old horse-dung masses and in crevices between 

 dung-balls, in fields in England and also on unsterilised horse-dung 

 cultures in the laboratory at Winnipeg, one may see still smaller 

 fruit-bodies — veritable dwarfs — with fully extended stipes 1-10 

 mm. long and fully expanded spore-bearing pilei 0-75-3 mm. wide. 

 These extremely tiny fruit-bodies wither with the first breath of 

 dry air and are too small to photograph satisfactorily. An account 

 of them was given in Volume II,i and they are illustrated here by 

 sketches reproduced at A and B in Fig. 138 (p. 316). 



Under favourable conditions in the open, and sometimes on 

 unsterilised horse-dung balls in the laboratory, fruit-bodies appear 

 which are larger than those shown in Fig. 130 (p. 300) and more 

 nearly resemble the cultivated fruit-bodies shown here in Fig. 133 

 (p. 305) and at E-N in Fig. 138, and in Volume II in Fig. 20 (p. 71). 



There is no difficulty in obtaining wild fruit-bodies of Coprinus 

 lagopus either at Winnipeg, Canada, or at Birmingham, England. 

 All that one needs to do at either of these places is to take fresh 

 horse-dung balls from stables and place them in a covered crystal- 

 lising dish on the laboratory table. The dung-balls almost always 

 contain C. lagopus spores which have been swallowed by the horse 

 with grass-stems, etc. ; and, at room temperatures, the first crop 

 of fruit-bodies generally makes its appearance in from two to three 

 weeks. 



(2) Cultivated fruit-bodies. After the spores of a wild Coprinus 

 lagopus fruit-body have been sown on fresh sterilised horse-dung 

 balls in the laboratory, the mycelium which develops from the 

 germ-tubes grows vigorously and produces fruit-bodies which are 

 usually much larger than those which come up on unsterilised 

 horse dung. Fruit-bodies, thus grown in pure cultures, are shown 



1 These Researches, vol. ii, 1922, pp. 82-88. 



