48 Transactions of the 



moisture in the cultivating chamber, and there was great inequahty 

 as to this in the different cells, though without any very apparent 

 reason. 



5th. Many of the cells were closed at some definite stage of 

 growth of the contents by being cemented all round, yet the myce- 

 lium often continued to spread, hence others were purposely checked 

 by the admission through capillarity at the small open space of 

 the cell, of a httle satm*ated solution of acetate of potash ; but the 

 entanglement of the mycelial threads was often so rapid, as in a 

 short time to obscure the germinating spore under observation, and 

 the threads so commingled they could not be followed back to their 

 primary source. During absence from home, some days in August, 

 also occasionally on account of the extreme violence of the wind, 

 rain, or other reasons, the apparatus was not set up, and occasion- 

 ally on account of wet was removed for part of the day : in one case 

 it was left out all night, otherwise the exposures were only during 

 the day-time. Once the same cover was used twice, ^. e. on the 

 following day. There would be httle use to try and tabulate the 

 amount of spores obtained per diem or per hour, for the apparatus 

 embraced no method for recording the velocity of the wind, hence 

 it would be impossible to estimate the quantity of air that traversed 

 the instrument within a given time. Suffice that the conditions 

 were simply those which, without any augmentation or decrease, 

 any person would be exposed to on the same spot and turning to the 

 course of the wind, though with the dijfference between the areas of 

 the breathing apertures and the open or arrow end of the vane. The 

 results show that the chances if an aspirator had been used on 

 various and not successive days, or even upon parts of the same 

 days, that no reliability as to the natural quantity of dust or spores 

 at that height from the ground would have been obtained, and the 

 present report only furnishes the amount of those gathered in the 

 day-time, except on one occasion, hence it is necessarily incomplete 

 for the twenty-four hours. The septate spores (Fig. 11, and m) 

 were of frequent occurrence and germinated freely, but without 

 furnishing any secondary spores. Whilst in various cultivating 

 cells some minute bodies, figured at d, o, and s, suddenly as it were 

 made their appearance, and are I believe gonidial forms of one 

 of the fungi or zoospores put forth under unnatural conditions: 

 some germinated to the extent of throwing out fine branches of 

 mycelium, which I think is not usual, as in Fig. d. The minute 

 bodies, figured at o, had a sli(/ht movement, but no cilia could be 

 detected, nor had they the form of bacteria or monads, but were 

 most likely gonidial bodies emitted by the terminal, though free 

 conidia, seen near to them. 



To conclude this imperfect sketch of the result of the employ- 

 ment of this form of aeroconiscope, it may be briefly said that it 



