THE FUNGUS. 17 



three-sixteenths inch wi(h\ witli numerous p;ills. On another timber 

 tiny masses ol" white mycelium were visible when the observations 

 were started. Six days later these masses had developed into a 

 sinj2;le hn^^e si)orophore neaily 2 inches in len<:;th. On still another 

 timber the first traces of plls had formed; four days later there were 

 16 gills. These observations were made at a time when the weather 

 w as very favorable for the <>;rowth of the funo;us, there bein<z; a shower 

 every day, with hot, mu<ji;(]jy weather between the showers. Com- 

 monly several small pilei form at the same time very closely too;ether, 

 and these then fuse into one or two lar<2;e ones which afterwards show 

 no signs of their compound nature. The gills first form as very 

 sliirht ridges on the under side of the mvcelial mass, then these 

 ridges grow liigher initil they form the fully developed anastomosing 

 gills. One very curious case was noted where a railroad tie, with a 

 newly formed sporophore upon it, had been turned with its former 

 upper surface underneath, so that the gills were on the upper instead 

 of the under surface. "Wlien found, the gills had just begun to pro- 

 duce a new growth of mycelium. On the sixth day new gills began 

 to form on the former up})er surface of the fruiting body; on the 

 eighth day the transformation was complete, and one would never 

 suspect the change which had taken place, the pileus being exactly 

 like a normal one, except for a slight increase in thickness. 



THE MYCELIUM. 



The hyphse of this fungus are very plentiful in the rotten wood, 

 l)ut are especially found in the medullary rays and the large cells of 

 the wood. A>ry often an entire cell cavity is filled with a tangknl 

 mass of mycelium. The mycelium consists of two distinct kinds — 

 a larger, dark-colored form, in which no contents can be perceived; 

 and a smaller, colorless form, with a more or less granular content. 

 The former is aj^parently the older form, and the color of the wood 

 tissues where it is at all i)lentiful is a dark brown, evidently caused 

 by the presence of so much tl ark-colored mycehum within, and not 

 by any secretion or infiltration substance. The colorless form is 

 evidently the younger and more active portion, and is much more 

 often found, being very connnon iu badly rotted wood. The hyplias 

 measure from 2 to 6 microns in diameter. 



TJIE SPORES. 



Experience gatheretl ckniug a number of tri})s to Texas at different 

 times of the year shows that the spores are produced abundantly 

 there from June to November. The spores were collected by placing 

 wet sporophores in moist chambers upon glass slitles. Under these 

 conditions the spores were given off very freely. The spores en 



214 



