129 



-tance, acquire a visible epi.pore, and float in a thin Uquid. In several specie:, 

 they generally a.'gve-ate into a compact ovate mass, rising towards the upi.er 

 ,.art of the a^cus. Meanwhile the outermost homo,-eneous stratum thins away 

 tiil the ascus is seen to be filled only with the fluid in which the ag-regated 

 spores are floating. I am not aware of any physiological reason for the lenti- 

 form protraction, which thi-.s causes the zonal thickening, but it has been more 

 or less completely observed in every species describe<l. The figures have been 

 drawn from A. Woolhopcnsis in which th ■ changes are well marked. 



The plants are for the most part exceedingly t^mall, rarely exceeding 1.50 

 in diameter. They have usually a silvery whiteness and purity very attractive 

 under the microscope. The number of spores within an ascus is generally W, 

 but the difficulty of counting them is great and rarely aUows the exact num 

 ber to be made out. Thirty-two are less frequently met with. They vary, 

 however, from 16 to 128 or more. The spore-number seems constant in the 

 same species, and thus constitutes a good si^cific quality. The walls of the 

 cup are usually thick, that is, composed of- several layers of cells. In one 

 species, however, the cup is formed of a sin-le stratum. The cells vary much 

 in size ; A. Woolhopensis being very large and bladdery. The fringe of hairs on 

 the margin of the cups varies in length and in evenness. The asci are usually 

 cur^-ed and never cylindrical. They dehisce, as I have said, by a rent which 

 commences at the tip extending straight do^vn on two sides to the ring. The 

 two valves thus formed are usually well parted. Paraphyses are very rarely 

 met with. Asci seem to be expl.xled very frequently, if not as a i-ule. The 

 older the cups the fewer asci are to be met ^-ith, and cups entkely emi-ty and 

 but slightly discoloured are often seen. 



The Ascozoni are found on the dung of rabbits and hares, birds and mice. 

 At most seasons of the year they may be met with but chiefly in winter. That 

 this season should exhibit them in greater abundance is frobably tobe ascribed 

 to the greater dampness then prevalent, which aUows of growth uninterrupted 



by draught. 



AscozoNCS. Benny. Ascobohis, Pers (sect. nova). 



Cupulse minutissimie, lucenter hyalina?, hemisphericse et sessiles, aut sub- 

 conicfe et stipitata?, glabrce aut in una specie subhiri;ce, ad marginem pilis 

 plerumque uniseriatis coronatfe, stercoricote. Discus planus aut convexus, 

 ascis prominentibus papillatus. Asci ampli, curvati, clavati aut oblongo-ovati, 

 sporas 16 ad 128 aut etiam plures includentes, annulo suborasso conspicuo ver- 

 sum apicem cmcti, fissura vertical! bilabiata dehiscentes. Paraphyses in- 

 numerosre, interdum furcats. SporK numerosse, oblong-fusiformes, intus 

 egranulosEe, episporio hyalino glabroinclusse, ad maturitatem asci extremitatem 

 versus in massam ovatam imbricatam plerumque aggregata;. 



A. Cunicularius, Rcnny. Peziza cunicularia, Boudier, Ann. des Sc. Nat. 

 V. ser., torn, x., p. 258. Atcoholus Leveillei, Crouan, Flore de Fin., p. .57, 

 ■ euppl. f. 1 (in parte). Byparohius argmteus, B. & Br., Ann. Nat. Hist. iv. 

 ser., vol. xi. p. 347. 



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