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substratum, under favourable conditions they will germinate and reproduce the 

 s))ecies. They throw out minute mycelial threads, which extend and branch 

 abundantly, and form the "sjiawn," as it is called by gardeners, from particular 

 parts of which little tufts arise which are the beginning of new plants in all resjiects 

 like the parent from which they sprang. This cycle of growth is very simple, and 

 may be continued indefinitely without, as far as is known, any sexual process inter- 

 vening, such as that which has been observed in a few species of the fungi. It has 

 been maintained by some that the basidia which produce spores — for great numbers 

 remain barren — are fertilised by minute granular bodies jjroduced on the sinnmits 

 of specialised male cells, called cystidia, which aiipear in the hymenium of some 

 of the allied hymenomycetes ; but this view is not accepted generally, and needs 

 further confirmation. There are several species of Afjaricince, which depart 

 from the method of reproduction observed in the mushroom as just described. 

 Aparicus tubcrosus and C'oprinus stercorarius may be taken as examples, in which 

 instead of being produced from the mycelium direct, as in the mushroom, a body 

 called a sclerotimn is produced on the mycelium, which is a hard, compact black 

 body, capable of resisting decay, and enduring for a whole year in a dormant 

 state, producing the next year one or more perfect parent plants. They are 

 condensed mycelium, forming a reservoir of reserve material to be employed in 

 forming new individuals. Analagous bodies are known to occur in the course of 

 the reproduction of other fungi, an example of which appears in the common Ergot 

 of rye, giving rise to Claviccps purpurea, and "in Peziza fitrkeliana presently to be 

 noticed, Typhula phacorrhiza and other fungi. Turning now to the Discomycetes, 

 which form an extensive division of fungi, represented by the well-known Peziza 

 aurantia, so frequently found about old stumps of trees in woodland districts, and 

 wherever found to be admired, we will select an example of a much more compli- 

 cated and curious method of reproduction than we have alluded to. The 

 Discomycetes are mostly cup-shaped, of a fleshy or waxy consistence, varying in 

 size from that of an ordinary teacup to that of a pin's head or even smaller. 

 They are either attached to the substratum by the base or supported on a 

 more or less elongated stem ; their colour is generally sober brown, grey, or 

 yellow, but not unfrequently bright yellow or red. They produce their spores 

 within a mother cell, which cell may be cylindrical or clubshaped, and normally 

 contain eight sporidia. The mother cells are called asci, and are placed side by 

 side in an upright position so as to form a continuous layer over the upper surface 

 of the cup, which is always more or less open. Between the interstices of the 

 asci slender filiform cells called paraphyses are present. The layer formed by the 

 asci and paraphyses is the hymenial surface. The sporidia when mature are 

 ejected through an opening at the summit of the asci and then commence an 

 independent existence. Peziza furkeliana is a species in which the development 

 has been carefully observed throughout its whole course. It is found on decayed 

 vine leaves, but has not yet been recorded in this country. It arises from a small 

 black sclerotium about j — J a line in diameter, sometimes singly, at other times 

 in groups of two, three, or more ; its stem is about j of an inch high and very 

 slender, not thicker than a bit of sewing cotton, and the cup supported by the 



