ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, iMICROSCOPY, ETC. 431 



changes noted in other plant-organs attacked by parasites and under the 

 influence of other destructive agents. 



British Mycology.* — The present number of the Transactions of the 

 British Mycological Society completes Vol. III. It contains an account 

 of the two field forays held during the year, one at Teesdale in June and 

 an autumn foray at Taunton. Lists are given of the fungi collected 

 and a descriptive account of the country worked over, etc. 



E. S. Salmon, the President for the year, gave an address on " Eco- 

 nomic Mycology and some of its problems." The problems more especially 

 dealt with referred to the specialization of parasitism, the conditions 

 under which saprophytic species of fungi become parasitic, the condi- 

 tions under which a parasite attacks a new host, and finally the effect of 

 fungicides, such as Bordeaux mixture, on the host plant. These were all 

 propounded and discussed, and methods of combating disease and pro- 

 tecting crops were described. 



Emile Boudier supplied a note on Pseudophacidium Smithianum, a 

 more perfect condition of the fungus inducing changes in the spore 

 which has necessitated its removal to the genus Fhaeangella. 



Harold Wager contributes a paper on work that might be done by 

 Natural History Societies to aid in the study of fungi. Many points in 

 the biology of fungi require observation : their distribution and occur- 

 rence, their habitat, and their variations due to soil or weather conditions. 



A curious alien species, collected and described by W. Phillips in 1875 

 as Sphinctuna csespitosa, has been re-described by A. Lorrain Smith as 

 Xylohotryum csespitosam. The genus is a tropical Pyrenomycete, and 

 the plant must have been the result of some accidental infection. It 

 grew on a decayed fungus, probably Folyporus, at Hereford, and has not 

 been again found. 



A. D. Cotton publishes an account of the genus Sparassis. He follows 

 Rene Maire in removing Sparassis from the Clavarite, as it bears the 

 hymenium on one side only of the laminae. 



T. Petch gives an account of a number of European genera and species 

 that are also to be found in tropical countries ; he adds notes as to the 

 differences in the forms. 



Additional notes are given by A.. H. R. Buller on the " Production 

 and Liberation of Spores in the genus Coprinus.'" In one group of species 

 cystidia are formed which keep the gills apart, in others the same object 

 is gained hj sterile bands or flanges on the free margins of the gills. 

 Buller has found that the basidia of most species are dimorphic, some 

 being very long and others short. The arrangement permits of a 

 greater packing of basidia and an increased spore-production. 



Carleton Rea gives a descriptive account with coloured figures of the 

 British species of Geasier with field characters and microscopic details. 



J. Ramsbottom reviews the work done in recent years on the much- 

 debated subject of the cytology of the reproductive organs in fungi. 

 He takes the groups in order and gives a short account of the phenomena 

 observed and the conclusions drawn by the different workers. 



Papers on new or rare fungi are contributed by A. Lorrain Smith 

 and Carleton Rea. 



* Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc, iii. (l'Jl:2) pp. 291-40i (4 pis.). 



