558 Wilson : The identity of Mucor M 





Mucor is a g 



stipate but sometimes sessile, all bursting irregularly and contain- 

 ing a cavity in which are numerous small rounded seeds which 

 are affixed to a placenta/' With a single exception these char- 

 acters are all drawn from Mucor vulgaris which is further de- 

 scribed as having a white head (capitulum) which turns black at 

 maturity and is supported by a grey stripe. The elaboration of 

 the genus is followed by a reference to certain experiments con- 

 ducted by Micheli, during the autumn and winter of 17 18-19, 

 for the purpose of determining the validity of species among the 

 fungi. One of these experiments * deals entirely with Mucor 

 vulgaris and is described in detail. On the 5th of November a 

 piece of pumpkin was sown with the spores (semina) of the black 

 mould and placed in the sun. By the 10th of the month the 

 infected portion of the substratum appeared white and was covered 

 with long slender threads resembling white wool. Two days 

 later these were about an inch high and by the 12th were assum- 

 ing a grayish tint. A few of the filaments also bore white heads 

 which were matured by the 1 5th. Spores from this culture were 

 sown the next day upon the same substratum and by the middle 

 of January following six generations of Mucor had been c 

 vated from a pedigreed strain. 



ulti- 



The account of these experiments contains the key to the 

 identity of Micheli's Mucor vulgaris and the Linnaean M. Mucedo. 

 They may be duplicated by infecting a piece of pumpkin or sweet 

 potato with the spores of the mould which passes current as 







Rhizopus nigricans Ehrenb. ' That the identity of these species is 

 beyond question is evident from Micheli's own writings. This 

 conclusion is further strengthened by his reference to Malpighi f 

 who describes the stoloniferous habit of this mould and figures the 

 collapsed columellae. 



With 



t> 



torical usage" of Mucor Mucedo. Between 1753 and 1790 this 

 mould was reported from all the principal countries of central and 



♦Observation. /. c. 137. 



t Anat. Plant. 2: 64, 65. //. 28./. 108. Reproduced in Malp. Opera Omnia 

 142, 143. / 108. 



