ON THE SEXUALITY OF THE FUNGI. 283 



One eud of the spiral grows out straight, passes through a 

 stoma, aud is clearly of the nature of a " trichogyne." This 

 was frequently seen, and is figured several times. Though sper- 

 matia were seen to adhere firmly to the end of the trichogyne, 

 the author could not convince himself that fertilisation took 

 place. 



It requires two or three months to complete these processes 

 and the formation of the ripe perithecia. Meanwhile, the 

 trichogyne begins to be disorganised from its free apex in- 

 wards. This was confirmed on both the species examined, and 

 the author thinks it is a more pronounced degeneration than the 

 change induced in the trichogyne of Collema on fertilisation. 



The paraphyses now bud from the base of the perithecium — 

 not from the ascogonium — and soon fill up the space formerly 

 occupied by the dense tissue surrounding the coiled portion of 

 the ascogonium. This tissue meanwhile becomes resorbed, 

 and the few remaining basal cells of the ascogonium — the 

 trichogyne and upper part have disappeared — give rise to 

 asci by budding. All the stages of development are clearly 

 described. 



With Xylaria polymorpha Fisch was able to clear up 

 the points left undecided by De Baryi ^nd Fuisting.'- The 

 young perithecia arise in the dense stroma as clumps of inter- 

 woven hyphae, in the midst of which a mass of paler cell-rows 

 arises, which are coiled and interwoven into a core or " nucleus." 

 These are the '' Woronin's hyphse'' of Fuisting. While these 

 are developing, the outer walls of the perithecium become 

 differentiated. The ''Woronin's hyphse" now break up, first 

 into pieces of one or two cells, and then into a disorganised 

 mass, which soon becomes gelatinous and amorphous. 



The paraphyses now spring from the dense mass forming the 

 inner wall of the perithecium. The asci arise from among 

 these, and have therefore nothing to do with the " Woronin^s 

 hyphee," which have disappeared in a slimy mass. Further 

 details offer nothing new. 



1 ' Morph. und Phys.,' pp. 97—99. 

 « ' Bot. Zeit.,' 1867, pp. 303—310. 



