THE TRANSLOCATION OF PROTOPLASM 



103 



Its fruit-bodies are flask-shaped, blackish, and beaked, and they 

 often protrude in large numbers from the surface of the substratum. 

 Their beaks are positively heliotropic (Figs. 57 and 58). The 

 ascospores are black and are surrounded, except at the germ-pore, 

 by a hyaline gelatinous envelope. 



Cultures. — Some mycelium de- 

 veloping fruit-bodies of Fimetaria 

 fimicola was found on horse-dung balls 

 obtained from a stable. Some of 

 this mycelium was then transferred 

 to sterilised horse dung where it grew 

 very rapidly over the substratum 

 and soon fruited. The radial rate of 

 growth of the mycelium on cleared 

 dung-agar at room temperatures was 

 found to be 2-8 cm. in 48 hours 

 or 1 4 cm. per day. 



Protoplasmic Streaming. — A 

 hanging drop of cleared dung-agar 

 was inoculated with some my- 

 celium of Fimetaria fimicola. and 24 

 hours later the mycelium had 

 spread freely in the culture medium. 

 On observing the mycelium with 

 the high power of the microscope, 

 it was found that the protoplasm in 

 the cells was distinctly granular 

 and that it was flowing rapidly 

 through certain of the hyphae. It 



appeared to pass through the septa without any difficulty, and it 

 could also be seen making its way from one hypha to another 

 through passage-ways formed by peg-to-peg fusions. A portion of 

 the mycelium in which the direction of the flow of the protoplasm is 

 indicated by a series of arrows is shown in Fig. 59. By reference to 

 that illustration it will be seen that the protoplasm was flowing : 

 acropetally through the cells of the hypha a ; then through a 

 passage-way o into a branch of the hypha b ; then basipetally 



Fig. 



56. — Pleurage fimiseda 

 (= P od os por a fimiseda), one 

 of the coprophilous Pyreno- 

 mycetes. Its perithecium, 

 here shown in longitudinal 

 section, much resembles that 

 of Fimetaria fimicola : s, 

 asci ; a, paraphyses ; e, 

 periphyses ; m, hyphae of 

 the mycelium. From von 

 Tavel's Vergleichende Mor- 

 phologic der Pilze. 



