Botanical Gazette. 



Vol. VI. MAY, 1881. No. 5. 



Notes Oil Modes of Work in tlie Labomtory of Prof, rte 



Bary in Strassburi>*, Germany. II. - Having in ihe last number 

 of the Gazeite given' some statements as to the instrumental outfit of 

 the Laboratory of Prof, de Bary in Strassburg, I desire now to add 

 something as to modes of observation and culture of the lower forms 

 of plant life. Commencing with Funei, it is safe to say that the first 

 desideratum is to procure living spores, to see mode of germination 

 and trace the subsequent stages so far as practicable. The first ques- 

 tion invariably asked me is, in what menstruum are these spores 

 so^^n? This reply i.s safe. Try them in simple water. first. It will 

 be found that the spores of fungi parasitic upon living plants do well 

 almost invariably in water, •until the nourishment has been removed 

 from the spore and reapplied to growth in the germinating tubes of the 

 spores. But when this stage has arrived, a new menstruum must be 

 found, and one as nearly like that of the juice of the plant on which 

 the fungus thrives. For example, a weak solution of well cooked 

 grape sugar would suggest itself for any of the species of fungi which 

 infest the grape vine. In other cases a decoction of bones will pro- 

 duce a vigorous development of the fungus after the water has done 

 its work. 



Now how are the spores sown ? In very simple contrivances. It 

 appears to be an unfortunate outgrowth of the inventive, mechanical 

 principle so largely characteristic of our race that we ignore simple ap- 

 pliances and run recklessly to com]ilicated machinery for very simjjle 

 objects. I keep before me as a reminder of supreme folly an elabor- 

 ate brass growing cell for which I paid five dollars, and then found it 

 was by no means so good as the simple ])aper "culture-well" used by 

 de Bary and his disciples. This is nothing but a bit of bibulous brown 

 pasteboard one-tenth of an inch thick, and 1.8 inches longbyi.i 

 inches wide, which has punched (by a gun-wad punch) in the center a 

 hole something more than half an inch in diameter. This first of all 

 must be boiled slightly before using to remove the suspicion of spores 

 that might invalidate results obtained in the cell. This cell is then 

 placed on a glass slide a very little larger, and the sj)ores sown in a 

 hanging drop of water on the under side of the cover glass, but this 

 drop must not touch die paper at any point, lest the whole be drawn 

 off and the cover and spores left dry. In such a cell cultures may be 

 continued for a great length of time ; long enough to solve the ordina- 

 ry life problems for which they are designed. To keep the cell moist 

 and the hanging drop intact and unwasted by evaporation, a little jet 

 of water from time to time thrown on the paper outside the limits of 



