236 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



The chlamydospores referred to this fungus are said to have very 

 rough, thick walls, resembling somewhat those of Sepedonium. Al- 

 though Mattirolo is of the opinion that these chlamydospores form 

 a phase of the life history of M. Gibelliana, he admits that he has not 

 absolutely proven it. He states he has "cultivated these forms 

 without ever being able to establish unquestionably their origin and 

 relation." 



Berlese ('92) described a bulbiferous fungus producing perithecia, 

 which he named Sphaeroderma bulbiUifcrum. This fungus he found 

 growing abundantly on dead leaves of Vitis, Cissus and Ampelopsis. 

 It is said to have several modes of reproduction, such as (a) micro- 

 conidia, which appear in chains and which resemble those figured 

 by Mattirolo as belonging to Melanospora Gibelliana and by Eidam, 

 to Helicosporangium parasiticum; (b) chlamydospores, which varied 

 somewhat in size — (these were ovoid, usually smooth, and golden- 

 yellow in color, each with a septum near the base, which divided the 

 chlamydospore into two vmequal cells); (c) golden-yellow bulbils, 

 which resembled those described and figured by Mattirolo in Melano- 

 spora Gibelliana and which seem to be short-lived and, under the 

 most favorable conditions, could not be made to produce mycelia; 

 (d) perithecia, which were represented as almost spherical and when 

 mature measured from 400-500 ju in diameter. They remain without 

 an ostiole almost to maturity and consequently there is no formation 

 of a neck. The color of the young perithecium is yellowish but 

 becomes darker as it grows older, until at maturity it is almost a tan 

 color. The asci are club-shaped with deep smoke-colored spores, 

 ovoid and prolonged at the poles into short obtuse papillae. 



Another pyrenomycetous form producing bulbils has been reported 

 by Biffen ('01, '02), and is said to be connected with Acrospcira 

 mirahilis Berk., which was originally found on sweet chestnuts 

 {Castanea vesca, Gaertn.). By the use of pure cultures, Biffen claims 

 to have succeeded in obtaining not only the chlamydospores, as de- 

 scribed by Berkeley and Broome in the Annals and Magazine of 

 Natural History for 1861, but also what he calls "spore-balls" 

 (bulbils) and definite perithecia. 



The spore-balls, which he says so closely resemble Urocystis vlolae 

 that he "could not find a single characteristic to separate them by," 

 were obtained by sowing the 'chlamydospores' on a watery extract 

 of chestnuts. Greater difficulty was experienced in producing the 

 perithecia, but finally, by sowing the chlamydospores and bulbils on 

 sterilized chestnuts, he records the following results: — " The ' chlamy- 



