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plant in March and April* ‘‘ was considered to afford only a salutary 
check to premature development, and the wheat plant soon recovered.” It 
is difficult to understand how a parasitic fungus which has once gained 
admission into the interior of wheat or any other plant can exert a salutary 
influence, especially when it is borne in mind that this rust is only the early stage 
of an after-coming Puccinia. Surely the wheat plant would, under any circum- 
stances, have enough to do to nourish its own fruit, without having, at the same 
time, to support a parasite which will last as long as the wheat itself does. The 
red-rust at present under consideration, was for a long time thought to be a fungus 
sui generis, but is now known to be only the state of a Puccinia. This Puccinia 
has not yet been figured in this country, in fact has only been recognised as 
British since 1878, and I am not aware that any one has pointed it out otherwise 
than as a botanical curiosity, although, as has been stated above, its Uredo state 
has been known for many years. 
Last spring, during the months of March, April and May, many of my agri- 
cultural friends were greatly alarmed by the unusual quantity of rust upon their 
wheats. To such an extent did this occur, that my friend Mr. W. Marshall, of 
Ely, heard of instances of persons walking through wheat ‘* who had their boots 
and trousers covered with the red-rust.” In some specimens of wheat sent to me 
for examination, [ found Uredo certainly upon them, but every yellow patch 
‘was not accompanied by spores. This turning yellow of the blade was ascribed 
by gentlemen who had been connected with agriculture from their youth to the 
action of frost; and doubtless the cold frosty nights we then had were the 
exciting cause. The mycelium of the fungus was present in the wheat-plant, and 
had so reduced its vitality, that when the depressing influence of frost came, the 
chlorophyl was changed, the plant being unable to withstand the cold nights and 
sunny days. The sickly yellow look of the crop at this time was observable as 
one drove about this part of Norfolk, and from our severe visitation of mildew 
last year it was not surprising that those having a large interest at stake should be 
alarmed. Now, although the frost showed us the extent to which the disease 
prevailed, it does not by any means follow that it did harm, on the contrary, its 
action was beneficial. In causing the death of the affected leaves, it caused the 
death of the nycelium, which, although unseen, existed in them, inasmuch as the 
Uredines grow only in the tissues of living plants. Of course all the mycelium 
was not killed, but a great part of it undoubtedly was. 
Puccinia rubigo vera (figs. 5. 6), like P. graminis, is a hetercecismal fungus, 
that is to say, it passes a part of its life history in the tissues of some other 
plant. It is unnecessary to go into the same details as were discussed in my 
previous paper upon Puccinia graminis, all that is required is to mention the 
points in which these two fungi differ from one another. To begin, as was then 
done, with the Uredo—Uredo rubigo vera, D.C.+ Uredo rubigo, Berk.,t Ceoma 
rubigo, Link.,§ Trichobasis rubigo vera, Lév., Trichobasis glumarum, Lév.,|| are 
* Daily News, July 24, 1882. + De Candolle, Flore Frang., vi., p. 83. 
{ Berkeley, English Flora, vol. v., part ii., p. 375. 
§ Link, Linn. Spec. Plant., vol. vi., part il., p. 4. 
|| Lévéillé, Annales des Sctences Naturelics, 1846-8. 
