ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 91 



Dispersal of Coprophilous Fungi.* — A Schmidt has studied the 

 various methods not only of spore-dispersal but of the culture conditions 

 of the various fungi that grow on dung belonging to the Mucoraceoe, 

 Ascomycetes, and Fungi imperfecta A number are conveyed to other 

 substrata by insects ; others are ejected and become attached to neigh- 

 bouring herbage, which is eaten by animals and the spores pass through 

 the digestive system of the animal. Most of the spores germinated on 

 being heated, some required a substratum of chyme from the intestines 

 before they could be induced to germinate, others again had to be treated 

 with certain acids before showing any signs of vitality. 



Essay in Classification of Fungi. + — P. Yuillemin has published a 

 book dealing with this subject, He surveys the work of previous writers, 

 classifying and comparing the different systems. The author himself 

 derives the primitive Ascomycetes from algse with trichogynes allied to 

 the existing Floride^. He rejects the view that they are descended 

 from the Phycomycetes. The Basidiomycetes he considers have also 

 the same origin, but through Ascomycetes with sexual differentiation. 



The book is illustrated by tables and is furnished with a bibho- 

 graphical index, etc. 



Symbiosis between Fungus and Orchid. J — S. Kusano finds that 

 the orchid Gastrodia elata is constantly associated with a fungus. The sub- 

 terannean tubers grow under oaks and out of them is developed a flower 

 stalk up to one metre in length. The tuber is covered with the 

 mycelium of a fungus, and without it no flower is formed. Kusano 

 determined the fungus to be Armillarla mellea, and he describes the bio- 

 logical features of its growth in and with the tuber. The orchid, he 

 concludes, is parasitic on the fungus. 



Plant Diseases.* — T. P. Trusova§ has published notes on fungus 

 diseases of wild and cultivated plants in Russia during 1911. Almost 

 all the Gramine^ were attacked by rust, both grain and forage crops, 

 and it was observed that animals fed with rusted forage suffered severely. 

 Puccinia coronifera was confined to oats. It caused the leaves to become 

 yellow and wither. Fusariwn Tritici covered wheat in certain instances 

 with a cobweb growth. A new disease of buckwheat was found to be 

 caused by a variety of Ascocliyta Fagojjyri. Other diseases of forage 

 plants are recorded, also those that attack peas and potatoes, such as 

 Uromyes Fist and Fhytophthora infestans. In cherry plantations 

 Clasterosporium amygdaUarum, has become a real scourge attacking both 

 leaves and fruits. 



H. T. Gussowll gives a recapitulation of the various researches on 



* Inaug. Diss.,Breslau (1912) 81 pp. See also Mycol. Centralbl., i. (1912) pp. 

 319-20. 



t Les Champignons, Essai de Classification. Paris : O. Doin (1912) 425 pp. 

 See also Mycol. Centralbl. i. (1912) pp. 333-9. 



X Journ. CoU. Agric. Imp. Univ. Tokyo, iv. (1911) pp. 1-66 (5 pis. and 1 fig.). 

 See also Ann. Mycol., x. (1912) pp. 531-2. 



§ Journ. Boliezni Rastenii, 6-i god., Nos. 1-2 (St. Petersbourg, 1912) pp. 1-15. 

 See also Bull. Bur. Agric. Intell. Rome, iii. (1912) p. 2095. 



11 Zeitschr. Pflanzenkr., xxii. (1912) pp. 385-401 (2 pis.). 



