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is seen ata glance. The nature of the furrows in the pileus (R) is now perfectly 
clear, every cell being seen in position, and the remnants of the universal veil or 
wrapper are seen on the surface of pileus at s. Studded amongst the cells of the 
upper stratum of cap may be seen various brilliant crystals which belong to the 
ammonio-phosphate of magnesia, and which crystals are taken up by the fungus 
from the manure on which it grows. Many dung-borne Agarics are covered with 
so-called micaceous particles, which, in many instances, doubtlessly arise from the 
manure which supports the fungus. It is a matter of considerable difficulty to get 
a section like this, for if attempted clumsily no result will follow beyond a slight 
discoloration of the edge of the lancet ; it is necessary to take the slice at the exact 
moment of maturity, and even then it requires the perfection of dexterity to cut 
the fungus properly, as the plant is sticky in all its parts. A fragment of the 
fruiting surface of a gill is shown at 7. 
To understand the vital phenomena of C radiatus it is necessary to compre- 
hend the meaning of the bodies seen in Plate III. and IV. The whole fungus is 
built up of cells, which run parallel with each other (and at maturity are very 
long) in the stem (Plate II), and which spread laterally, and then become more or 
less spherical in the pileus. When these cells reach the gills or fruit-bearing 
surface (hymenium, U U), a certain differentiation takes place in their functions. 
The majority of the cells remain simple, but certain other cells which are spread 
over the gills with the greatest regularity assume a different nature, and produce 
spores. These cells are called basidia (meaning small pedestals, v v, Plate IIT 
and IV), and the spores, or analogues of ovules or seeds, basidio-spores, because 
they are carried on these little pedestals. The minute threads between the spores 
and their pedestals are termed spicules or sterigmata (literally props). Certain 
other privileged cells (w w, Plate IID) are termed cystidia (bladders), and around 
these latter organs and their meaning the principle interest of the subject in hand 
will now centre. But let it be borne in mind as a preliminary fact of the utmost 
importance that at first the fungus is composed wholly of simple cells which show 
no differentiation ; no differentiation in the cells is seen in infancy when the gills 
are first formed, but the privileged cells, known as basidia and cystidia, come only 
into existence and that simultaneously as the plants reach maturity. This differ- 
entiation I consider to be sexual, the basidia being female, and the cystidia the 
male organs. When the contents of the basidia and cystidia are interchanged, the 
result is a return to another series of cells, which go to form anew plant. I am 
perfectly aware of the opinions which have been expressed by other botanists (and 
to which I shall return), but it is not so much my aim to make my observations 
accord with what others have said, as to record what I have seen myself, and to 
give my own interpretations of the phenomena seen, irrespective of what has been 
said or done before. 
The first sign of differentiation in the simple cells of the gills, when the 
basidia and cystidia are about to be produced, is in the privileged cells becoming 
glossy, crystalline, and translucent : they both appear to secrete a material which 
makes them conspicuously brilliant. Each basidium then throws out four slender 
