110 



rather ojn'ii wdnds ahmil live miles east of I.afayi'tte. The siR'elnien was 

 iiiiiuatiire, ii<it yet ha\iii,LC hemiu the tdnnatliui of spores, and was firm, 

 white, and solid. (See Fiy. 1.) It measured ahout 4!i em. in diameter and 

 weighed i>i pounds. The specimen was so large that it woidd not go into 

 the ovens where heat could he ajipiii'd and nufortunately spoiled hefore we 

 devised a meth(Hl of diying it. On Octo'ier it, IIJU, Mr. F. J. l'ii)al and 

 the writer visited the locality where the large specimen came from and 

 found in the innnsdiate vicinity a whole "colony" of lai'ge imff-lialls vary- 

 ing from 10 or 12 cm. in diameter up to the size of the one described. 

 Several were collected and some were preserved. On September Hi. I'.il2. 

 nearly one year later, this locality was again visited by .Mr. I'ipal and the 

 writer \\ith tlie hope of finding another crop of giant puff-balls. No fresh 

 specimens were found, but nevertheless observations were made which 

 may be of some interest. To our great surprise a unnil)er of old specimens 

 of the crop of the previous season weie still attached in tlieii' original 

 position, and although somewhat weathered still retained their globose 

 form and wt're in an excellent state of preservation. (See Fig. 2.) That 

 such large frail objects \\iinld withstand weathering for so long a time 

 had nut occurred to ns as at all likely. One of the best of these was 

 brought in and is now in onr collectinn. It is now ^!t» cm. in diameter and 

 weighs only 4A oz. Judging friim the sizi' it is safi- to say that this sjieciiiien 

 nmst ha\'e weighed seven or eight ])ounds when fri'sli. The peridinni is 

 thin ;iiid jiaiiery .-uid irregularly split an<l torn in the upjier part, after the 

 manner described by the older authors. \ees in his Systeina <ler ril/.- 

 (1816) presents a very good illustration of this specie's, /'/. //, /'/.'/. /.,''-/. 

 There can be no doubt that this plani norni.-illy remains attached to the 

 place of growth. 'J'he caiiillitium is very unlike that of Horishlhi oi' Mi/cc- 

 n(ixf)-iiin. consisting of long. bi'an<hing, intertwined thri'ads which are nni- 

 form in size, 4-0 //, and smooth. The spores are globose, niediuni-sizeil, 

 4-ri //, smooth. 



In Octoi)er, ItXlo, when Dr. Arthur collected the .]f!ic<niistnnii sjtet-i- 

 meiis near Lafayette, several other larger forms were brought in. Two 

 of these whi<'h .-ix-erage about is and •_'.". cm., respe<lively. in size are iire- 

 served in our collection. The characters of these specimens are unusual 

 and considerable dilliculty has been exjierienced in reaching a conclusion 

 conceiMiing their idenlit.x. The cipillilium ,nul spores agr(>e with the giant 

 ]inff-ball, as does also their large size and the manner in whiih the peridinni 

 rnptures. The strictrire of the peridium, however, aiipcars very dllTerent. 



