Royal Microscopical Society. 271 



satisfactory, rather than putting their shoulders to the wheel, and 

 by experiment and observation trying to ehminate the truth. 



It happened that for a period of two months in the autumn of 

 1870 I obtained leave to visit the Himalayas north of Deyrah 

 Dhoon, and employed most of my time there in shooting game and 

 large animals, especially bears, which are very plentiful in many 

 parts of those truly magnificent mountains. In my search for 

 sport, sometimes in places most difiicult of access, I frequently 

 observed fungi on the leaves or stems of living plants, and as 

 opportunities permitted I made collections of the affected leaves, 

 and preserved them for examination, which I regret to say has 

 never been done until the present time. 



During the space of four years many have changed their colour, 

 and others cannot now be detected on the leaves, and some, indeed, 

 have been lost ; nevertheless I have endeavoured to collect a few, 

 some of which no doubt are rare or even unknown in this country. 

 I am not aware of the existence of any work on the fungi of the 

 Himalayas, otherwise I should have consulted it prior to writing 

 the present paper, and thus have saved myself from useless repe- 

 tition and a little anxiety lest I should be imperfectly performing a 

 labour which has already been well done by another. Since my 

 return to England I have had the advantage of Mr. M. C. Cooke's 

 opinion of the objects figured in Plate LXXXVI., which he has 

 kindly named. Judging from what I observed in September and 

 October, 1870, 1 should say that fungi are very common throughout 

 the whole range of the Himalayas, and it is probable that all the 

 English species, and maybe many new ones, are to be found with 

 little trouble to any energetic and adventurous mycologist who may 

 be fortunate enough to traverse those regions. 



On some banks and sunny slopes of the hills the wild straw- 

 berry and raspberry are to be found in abundance, and on the under 

 surface of the leaves of many will be noticed black spots, which on 

 microscopical examination are proved to be the Aregma (Phrag- 

 midium) oUusuni and Aregma (P.) gracile respectively, and difier- 

 ing in no way from the English species. 



On the under surface of the leaves of the thistle (Cardmis 

 lanceolatus) the Puccinia syngenesiarum was frequently noticed, 

 and so was the Puccinia variabilis on the upper and under surface 

 of the leaves of the dandelion. 



The blackberry brand, the Aregma (Phragmidium) hulbosum, 

 was quite common on the under surfaces of the leaves of the black- 

 berry bushes, and occasionally a white, tough, cotton-like fungus was 

 met with, growing either from the under surface of the venation of 

 the leaf or from the petiole, or both. This fungus will be referred 

 to farther on. 



The Aregma (Phragmidium) mucronahcm was found on the 



