258 



THE PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 



scurfy, or more or less clothed with soft clown, or with pointed 

 bristles, which are sometimes hooked or variously curved and 

 twisted. The exact use of these hooked hairs is not determined, 

 but the fact that the numerous minute creatures so abundant 

 on dung may frecjuently be seen trudging along with a load 

 of one or more perithecia adhering to them by the curved and 

 elastic hairs, suggests the idea that these appendages may play 

 some part in the distribution of these minute fungi, after the 

 fashion served by the curved spines of many fruits — as species of 

 La2)j)a, Galium, Circaea, etc. 



All species of Pyrenomycetes that grow on dung have the 



Fig. V. 



Fig. VI. 



spores enveloped in mucus, and it is in this group that the 

 mucus so frequently, in addition to forming a continuous layer 

 surrounding the spore, forms the curious tail-like appendages at 

 one or both ends of the spore. 



When the perithecium of a fungus belonging to the present 

 group is crushed in water, and not allowed to come in contact with 

 the air, the mucous appendages are somewhat difficult to detect, 

 and are moreover soluble, commencing to swell at once and soon 

 disappearing. This difficulty can be overcome by the addition of 

 a little methylene blue stain to which a trace of formalin has 

 been added, when the mucus assumes a clear blue colour, and 

 retains its original form for some time. 



