66 THE KATTJEAL HISTORY EEYIEW. 



of the Discomycetes, still that they serve the same purpose of pro- 

 tecting the shorter fertile basidia with which they are mixed. M. de 

 Seynes, in his recent work, " Essai d'une Flore mycologique de la 

 region de Montpellier et du Gard," has some remarks upon the nature 

 of the cystidia which deserve careful consideration. He describes 

 the cystidiiim as a cell generally larger than the basidium, and which 

 varies much in its form : growing from the parenchyma at the same 

 level, as, or rather below, the other elements of the hymenium, it 

 protrudes sometimes as a simple barren cell of somewhat larger size 

 than the others, sometimes in the shape of a more or less elongated 

 cone, sometimes bearing a small sphere at its extremity, sometimes 

 becoming lageniform. After stating that it is not found in all the 

 Hymenomycetes, nor even in all Agarics, he alludes to Corda's 

 notion of its being a male organ, and then gives his own vievrs as 

 follows. He says : " It is difficult to accept this (Corda's) interpre- 

 "tation. Numerous observations upon these organs, some made 

 " even before I was aware of Corda's hypothesis, lead me to quite 

 " a different conclusion, and I consider these cystidia to be nothing 

 *' more than organs remitted to vegetative functions by a sort of 

 " hypertrophy of the basidium. Corda asserts that impregnation is 

 " eff'ected by means of a viscous fluid issuing from these organs ; but 

 " if we remark that the instances of this sort of impregnation are 

 "taken from fungi (A^. riitiJus,Schsdf^. viscidus Fr., mucosiis, Bull.), 

 " in which all the vegetative portions are viscous, or have a tendency 

 " to become so in wet weather, we shall see nothing surprising in 

 *' the fact of one of their cells having the same property, and thus 

 "becoming attached to the spores: on the contrary, we shall be 

 " rather led to suppose that the cystidia are simple vegetative organs. 

 " In the milky My cense (Ag. galopus), which have the organs of 

 " reproduction very diiferent from those of the Lactarii, the cystidia 

 " are identical with those of the Lactarii ; in the division Pluteus 

 " they are so like the basidia that but for their size they would be 

 " taken for the latter ; being divided at the apex into short horns 

 " they even seem to liave retained the sterigmata. In other cases 

 ** their form is like that of the cells of the parenchyna; in a new 

 " Agaric {Ag. sulcatus, Dun,) I have observed the cystidia forming 

 •' small cylinders with a swollen spherical extremity, and this is pre- 

 " cisely the form which the vegetative cells assume in the pileus and 

 " gills. These observations have led me to consider these organs, 

 •' which are scattered over the gills, or frequently crowded near the 



