272 CURUEY, ON THE REPRODUCTIVE 



with an occasional ascus intermixed. Again, upon taking a 

 section of one of the plants of Cryptosporium vulgare which 

 occurred upon the same twig, I found a very few asci, iden- 

 tical with those of the Sphcpria, intermixed with the naked 

 spores of the Cryptosporium. 



One of these asci, which is in a very early stage, is shown, 

 fig. 13 (c). The membrane was of extreme tenuity, and in 

 the middle was a linear mass of granular protoplasm, partly 

 divided in a longitudinal direction by a dark line, which, 

 however, did not traverse the whole length of the granular 

 matter. Another of the asci, fig. 13 {d), contained a much 

 larger quantity of granular matter, still apparently in one 

 mass, but deeply marked and furrowed. There can be no 

 doubt that in the two asci just mentioned the sporidia were in 

 process of formation, and. that the lines and furrows pointed 

 to the directions in which the granular mass was eventually to 

 become separated, so as to form the eight perfect sporidia. 



The above observations would be conclusive as to the iden- 

 tity of the Sphceria and the Crytosporhini, were it not for the 

 possibility that the sporidia, forming the milky mass around 

 the ostiola, might have been contained in asci which had been 

 dissolved within the perithecium, although from the young 

 state of the included asci this is not probal)le ; and in the case 

 of the section of the Cryptosporium, inasmuch as I did not 

 see the asci in situ, it is possible that the few which occurred 

 might have been adhering to the scalpel or brush used in a 

 previous examination, alt lough I liave no reason for supposing 

 that such was the case. 



I think it will be admitted that the above facts afford strong 

 evidence to show that Cryptosporium vulyare and Sphceria 

 Cryptosporii are states of one and the same plant. It is difficult 

 to suppose that the former is the young state of the latter; it 

 would rather seem that the same conceptacle has the faculty 

 of producing both naked spores and asci, and that it depends 

 upon circumstances, possibly atmospheric, whether the one or 

 the other be produced. It seems to nie not improbable that 

 the spores of the Cryptosporium may in some instances be 

 converted into the asci of the Spha;ria. 1 have seen what 

 seemed to be a common spore of tlie Cryptosporium, but which 

 had a very delicate hyaline investment, and the bodies shown 

 in fig. 13 (c) and (d) may be only more advanced steps in the 

 process of conversion. Some objection might be raised to this 

 view on account of the shape of the Cryptosporium spores, most 

 of which are strongly curved and acuminate at either end, but 

 on the other hand the spores vary greatly in size and shape, 

 and some occur plentifully, which are quite undistinguishable 



