COPROPHILOUS HYMENOMYCETES 225 



deduced from the fact that in the laboratory sterilised horse dung 

 can readily be infected with spores of various species of Coprinus : 

 the mycelium produced gives rise to fruit-bodies in the course of 

 a few weeks. In many cases at least, it is not necessary for the 

 spores to have passed through the alimentary canal of one of the 

 Herbivora in order to become capable of development. The second 

 mode of infection, in which the agency of the wind is supplemented 

 by that of animals, has been carefully investigated by several 

 observers. Thus Massee and Salmon, using antiseptic methods, 

 extracted the faecal matter from the intestines of dead rabbits and 

 found that, when it was protected from aerial infection, there 

 developed upon it a considerable number of species of fungi, a 

 long list of which are recorded in their " Kesearches on Copro- 

 philous Fungi." 1 However, these authors were not successful in 

 obtaining any species of Hymenomycetes in this way ; but from 

 their observations it seems probable that the more frequent mode 

 of infection of the dung of horses and cattle in nature is indirect. 

 The spores are scattered broadcast over pastures by the wind : they 

 are then swallowed with grass by animals; they pass uninjured 

 through the alimentary canal, find their way into the faecal matter 

 as soon as it is formed, and germinate in it immediately after it has 

 been deposited. By this means the spores come to be intimately 

 mixed throughout a faecal mass, so that its infection is much more 

 thorough and takes place sooner than could be the case with spores 

 merely settling upon its outer surface. No doubt, of the two modes 

 of infection the more highly specialised leads to a more rapid 

 development of new fruit-bodies. 



Coprophilous Hymenomycetes, such as many Coprini, are 

 adapted to their environment in three special ways : firstly, in the 

 capacity of the mycelium to use the materials contained in dung 

 as food and to flourish when developing in faeces ; secondly, in 

 the spores being able to pass through the alimentary canal of 

 herbivorous animals uninjured ; and, thirdly, in the nature of the 

 fruit-bodies. The food specialisation has advanced so far that 

 a number of species of Coprinus, &c, judging from their distribution 



1 Massee and Salmon, Ann. of But., vol. xv., 1901 ; vol. xvi., 1902. 



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