ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC, 205 



repeated these observations on a SaproUgnia that grew on a beetle in a 

 laboratory tank. Lechmere had followed the development of five 

 different types of spore discharge which are characteristic of genera 

 other than SaproUgnia. Collins noted the same type of spore discharge 

 in her cnltnre ; she has also evidence that one condition is a further 

 stage of a previous condition. Thus in Didyuchus and in the Dictyuchns 

 condition the spores encyst within the sporocyst, then they enter on a 

 second motile stage, and pass out to the open. In Aplanes, which seems 

 to develop from that condition, mobility is suppressed and the spores 

 germinate within the sporocyst. Instances were noted in the culture of 

 both these conditions, and also of the two occurring in the same sporocyst. 



A. LoRRAiN Smith. 



Distribution of Swiss Peronospora Species. — Ernst CrAiJiiANN 

 {Jlitt. Naturf. Ges. Bern., 1920 [1919], 176-87). The author has 

 sought to determine if possible the causes affecting the distribution of 

 Peronosporese. Most of the hosts are culture plants or weeds, the 

 presence of few of them being independent of human agency. The 

 dispersion of the fungus is but little understood, whether it is by 

 oospores or by vegetative growth, but occasionally for no known reason 

 there occur severe epidemics of certain species. Some species spread 

 widely and quickly ; others, such as Peronospora lapponka, are confined 

 to narrow limits. Tables are given of the Peronospora species, with theii 

 hosts and their geographical distribution. A. L. S. 



Soft Rot of Pepper Fruits. — S. G. Lehman {Phytopathology, 1921. 

 11, 85-7). The fungus causing the rotting was isolated and cultured, 

 and then again inoculated into healthy fruits. Antheridia, oogonia and 

 oospores were found, and it is believed that the fungus is Pythium de 

 Baryamun. It is probable that zoospores are splashed from the ground 

 by rain on to the fruits. A. L. S. 



Massospora cicadina Peck. — A.. T. Speare {Mycologla, 1921, 13, 

 72-82, 2 pis.). This fungus, one of the Entomophthoales, is parasitic 

 on the periodical Cicada Tihicina cicada, and is confined to America. It 

 is chiefly male insects that are parasitized ; conidial and resting spores 

 never occur simultaneously in the same individual. The writer does not 

 consider that the fungus will prove to be of economic importance, as it 

 does not kill the larvas. A. L. S. 



Methods of Direct Inoculation with Damping-off Fungi. — Annie 

 E. B.ATRBU-S {Phytopathotogist, 1921, 11, 80-J:, o figs.). As inoculation 

 experiments by placing fungi in the soil were unsatisfactory for various 

 reasons, the author explains in detail new improved methods of inocu- 

 lation. She placed the fungi on small pieces of cardboard (platforms), 

 and fixed them by means of tootiipicks pushed through the cardbuard at 

 any distance required above the soil and in close proximity to the plant. 

 The results were found to be very successful. A. L. S. 



Crown-gall of Alfalfa.— 0. T. Wilson (Bot. Gas., 1920, 70, 

 .51-68, 4 pis.). The galls arise as branching tuberculate structures on 

 the larger secondarv roots of Medicago sativa. The organism causing 



