Vui. XXVII. -| McAlpine, Smuts of Australia. 9 



1910 J ' ' 



NOTES ON THE SMUTS OF AUSTRALIA. 



By D. McAlpine. 



{Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, llth Ax)ril, 1910.) 



It is exactly four years since I read a paper before this Club on 

 the Rusts of Australia, based upon a work then issued, and now 

 I propose to deal similarly with the Smuts of Australia. 



It may be questioned at the outset whether this is a suitable 

 subject for a Field Naturalists' Club, seeing that it is mainly a 

 record of work done in the laboratory, and I may say here that 

 this view has weighed so much with me that I offer it as an excuse 

 for my comparatively rare contributions to the pages of the 

 Victorian Naturalist. But, on the other hand, I hope to show 

 you that, just as " the hewers of wood and drawers of water " have 

 helped to render this fair continent of ours habitable and pros- 

 perous, so the field naturalist has rendered possible much of the 

 work that has been done in natural history by his or her observa- 

 tions, collections, excursions, and descriptions. There is no hard 

 and fast line to be drawn between what is observed by the naked 

 eye and what may be seen when the eye is supplemented by the 

 microscope, and the microscopic evening held at our last meeting 

 is a tacit admission of this truth. 



Let it be understood, then, that my notes on the Smuts of Aus- 

 tralia will deal principally with those features which are observable 

 in the field, and for their deeper meaning I refer you to the photo- 

 graphs of the various smuts and their spores on the walls. 



Just as the cinematograph has made us familiar with scenes and 

 industries, and even scientific facts, which many of us would not 

 otherwise have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with, so I 

 consider that the photographs of the smuts and their minute 

 structure have, to a certain extent, bridged the gulf between the 

 field and the laboratory worker. I believe it is the aim, or ought 

 to be the aim, of this Club to have every branch of natural history 

 represented in its operations, but there is no doubt that in recent 

 years the fungi have been sadly neglected. 



In a suggestive paper by Dr. Hall, on " Ungarnered Grain," in 

 the January number of the Club's journal, there are a number of 

 valuable hints as to fruitful fields of research in our native fauna 

 and flora, but the fungi are not even mentioned, although many 

 of them are being swept out of existence by the ruthless destruc- 

 tion of our forests. It is about time that the ''Flora Australiensis " 

 was supplemented by accurate descriptions of the lower crypto- 

 gams, at least as complete as those of the higher cryptogams and 

 flowering plants, and I for one will never rest content until the 

 fungus-flora of Australia has received that recognition which its 

 importance and its bearing on our various natural resources 

 demand. It is hardly necessary to tell you that the study of the 

 smuts, for instance, is not a mere academic exercise, for they are 



