INTRODUCTION 15 



as one. Their records were, therefore, continued as one. In A phniwmyces 

 the species occurring in Chapel Hill, except A. parasilica,''ha\e all been 

 combined, as the genus nia\- be (iuick:!\- determined by the sporangia, 

 while the species in two cases are often to be settled only after a series of 

 cultures to secure the reluctant i)r()duction of oogonia. 



A table like this can be only suggestive and proves nothing rigidly 

 except the relative abundance of the species at Jifferent seasons in any 

 one place. This may be shown by taking the :ase of Leptomitus. It 

 would seem from this table to be a rare species in Chapel Hill, whereas 

 it may be had any day by collecting in streams containing sewage. This 

 point makes a word necessary as to where the collections were made. 

 In order to make the record mean as much as possible, the collections 

 were regularly made in a series of stations of considerable variety and 

 the great majority of collections were made in the same series of stations. 

 The usual series were several collections in the Arboretum spring and 

 branch, continuing into Battle's branch; several in Terra Cotta spring 

 and the pool below on Glen Burnie farm ; se\eral in the seepy marsh at 

 the foot of Lone Pine hill on the same farm, one collection occasionally 

 in Lone Pine spring, and several collections in the sedgy marsh in front 

 of the cemetery. Xot rarely collections were made in Howell's spring 

 and branch and its branches, and scattering collections were made on 

 occasion in many other places, as Bowlin 's Creek and Morgan 's Creek, 

 Xew Hope Creek, various springs, marshes, troughs, etc. 



When we analyze the table we see that for the great majority of 

 species spring is the most favorable season for growth. There are eleven 

 species which were found in a greater per cent of the collections in spring, 

 three in winter, three in summer and two in fall. But if we compare 

 the six cold and the six warm months we find little or no difference, ten 

 appearing more frequently in the warm and nine in the cold months. 



The present \olumc is concerned primarily with the Saprolegniaceae, 

 but we have noted the genera and species of the other families of the order 

 Saprolegniales and ha\e treated in some detail all species in this order 

 that we ha\e found in North Carolina. All are small saprophytic or 

 parasitic fungi with an ob\ious mycelium growing in water. We have 

 also added such fungus parasites of the water molds as have appeared in 

 our collections. In regard to the culture media, when the word "ant" is 

 used it refers to the adult worker of the small white termite that is com- 

 mon in old logs and stumps. The "spring water" mentioned in many 

 notes was taken from the spring in the Arboretum of the University. 



All the drawings have been made by camera lucida and nearly all 

 from living material. The author is responsible for the phot(jgraphs and 



