122 G. MASSEE ON THE LABOULBENIACEAE. 



in such cases the spores produced by the female plant are held 

 together in pairs by mucus. One of these spores gives origin 

 to a male and the other to a female plant, and as the pairs of 

 spores adhere together and grow up side by side, fertilisation 

 is secured, which but for this remarkable arrangement would 

 be somewhat uncertain, as the antheridia do not possess the 

 power of locomotion in water, as is the case with the antherozoids 

 of mosses, ferns, etc. 



Dr. Thaxter has visited Europe twice for the purpose of 

 examining the insects in European collections, as the fungi, being 

 of a somewhat chitinous nature, retain all their important 

 features after desiccation. His researches have shown that these 

 minute fungi occur in every part of the world. 



Notwithstanding the general abundance and cosmopolitan 

 distribution of these beautiful little organisms, it is a regrettable 

 fact that, up to the present, not a single species has been recorded 

 as indigenous to Britain, and yet undoubtedly many species do in 

 reality exist. This field of research offers an admirable oppor- 

 tunity for those who have not as yet settled down to the study 

 of a specific group. The literature is in a concrete form, the 

 illustrations numerous, and moreover the specimens retain all 

 their features when mounted in glycerine. It is much to be 

 desired that some member of the Quekett Club may be first in 

 the field, so far as this country is concerned, in advancing the 

 study of a group of organisms which appear destined to play so 

 important a part in unravelling the sequence of life on our 

 globe. 



The accompanying figures represent characteristic species of this 

 interesting group of fungi. 



Jovrn. Quekett Miaoscopical Club, Sei: 2, Vol. VIII., No. 49, November \90l. 



