MYCOLOGICAL BULLETIN 



No. 45 



[f. A. KrUcrman, Ph. D.. Ohio State Uiiii'crsity 

 Coliiinhiis. Ohio, A'o'rciubcr 1, 1!»(i.") 



A B \CTERiA Number — Thougli these plants would not be called 

 Mushrooms or Toadstools, the Bacteria are fungi and very interesting Ijc- 

 sidcs. The group is very large and only a few species are pathogenic — 

 that is, disease-producing. The great majority are harmless to man, but 

 that is telling only half the truth; they are in .fact directly or indirectly 

 most beneficial to us. In the Economy of Nature their role is mo.st sig 

 nicant because they disintegrate organic matter and hand back the ele- 

 ments to the mineral kingdom ; they prepare the bountiful supply of 

 plant food — thus indirectly making our existence possible. But no space 

 can here be spared to discuss these important organisms or to describe 

 their life cycle. Suffice it to add that many if not most plant diseases are 

 caused by Bacteria. 'I'he important publication mentioned in the next 

 number has suggested that this matter be taken up incidentally and some 

 illustrations furnished. 



l-"isj. 144. 1j.\c-te'-ri-um prv'-ni — This is the earliest stage of fruit spot mi grei-i. 



liliiiTis. The bacteria have entered through the stoniate as the section of the fruit 



highly niasnifit'cl shows, l-'rom Krwin V. ."smith's Kactcria in Relation to Plant 

 1 )iseriscs. 



University Bulletin. Scries 9, No. 33. Entered as Second Qass Mattel. Post-ofiice at Columbus. Ohio 



