256 D, D. CUNNINGHAM. 
ductive bodies of these intestinal organisms. In a specimen of 
recent cow dung, which had been reserved in a moist chamber 
for twenty-four hours, the surface was found to be studded with 
a multitude of minute glistening white spherules, adhering to 
projecting points of the basis (Pl. XVIII, fig. 1). At first sight 
these were regarded as basal dilatations of Pilodolus, in which 
an abnormal suppression of colouring had occurred, bnt on sub- 
mitting them to microscopic examination this was found not to 
be the case. ‘They were entirely uneonnected with the mycelial 
tubes of the fungus which subsequently produced an abundant 
crop of normal fructification, and did not resemble the basal dila- 
tations in structure, consisting of a membraneous sac crowded 
with spore-like bodies. These were circular, flattened, and 
biconcave, closely resembling red blood-corpuscles in general 
appearance. On being introduced into a solution of cow dung 
they rapidly became spherical, a contractile vesicle appeared 
within them and began to pulsate, and they sooner or later, as a 
rule, gave exit to minute amebal bodies, which crawled off 
freely in the fluid, generally leaving a delicate cyst behind them 
in doing so. In other cases, however, in place of being resolved 
into Amebee, they appeared to give origin to flagellate zoosporic 
bodies. Similar phenomena were observed at various subsequent 
periods, and the sporangic bodies being not unnaturally regarded 
as representing some low Myxomycete form, a repeated but futile 
search was made for the presence of plasmodia corresponding 
with them. Subsequently the appearance of these sporangic 
bodies came to be recognised as a normal and almost invariable 
event in specimens of cow dung reserved for the study of sterco- 
reous fungi. The essential condition ensuring their appearance 
seemed to be that the basis should have been secured and set for 
cultivation whilst still quite recent, older samples almost in- 
variably failing to produce a crop, or only producing a very 
scanty one. As the result of numerous experiments, it was 
ascertained that the appearance of these sporangia preceded that 
of any other form of fungal fructification, occurring, as a rule, 
within twenty-four or forty-eight hours from the commencement 
of a cultivation of perfectly fresh material, and being succeeded 
by that of various fungi in the following order :—Pi/odolus crys- 
tallinus, Ascobolus sp., various species of Gymnoasci, Peziza 
sp., Coprinus sp. These fungi may be regarded as the regular 
and almost invariable results of the cultivation of fresh cow dung 
in this part of India, while occasionally other forms are interpo- 
lated in the series, as, for instance, a Syncephalis, which some- 
times attacks the Pilobolus. Taking the normal series of 
developments, the sequence of events is shown in the following 
table ; 
