ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 71 



Fungi. 



(By A. Lorrain Smith, F.L.S.) 



Study of Monoblepharideae.* — M. Woronin had prepared before his 

 death a series of drawings and notes on Monohlepharis. W. Franzschel 

 has edited and published the paper. Woronin describes how he was led 

 to search for the fungus on plant remains taken from a pond. These 

 he kept under observation in clear water, and found growing on them 

 numerous Phycomycetes and more or less developed plants of Mono- 

 hlepharis. He selected M. sphcerica for detailed description. It grew 

 in tufts of non-septate filaments with rhizoids at the base. A septum was 

 formed in the hyphae just below the oosphere. In this species the 

 antheridia were hypogynous. The fertile hyphse produced several 

 oogonia at the tips of branches, the branching being sympodial. In the 

 antheridium 4-6 spermatozoids were formed, each with one long cilium. 

 They escaped by a papilla, and either swam away or attached themselves 

 to the oogonium, moving round the outside till the apex was reached. 

 The wall of the oogonium was then dissolved, and fusion took place 

 between the two sexual bodies. The resulting zygote developed inside 

 the oogonium, or it passed out through the opening at the top. "When 

 mature it is yellowish-brown in colour, with colourless warts on the 

 surface. The oospore usually remains attached to the oogonium in 

 Monoblepharis sphcerica ; in M. macrandra they are often found separate. 

 The germination of M. sphcerica was not observed. In addition to 

 M. sphcerica Woronin found two other species, M. polymorpha and 

 M. macrandra. Very complete descriptions of the figures drawn by 

 Woronin were found among his papers, and are published in full, 

 adding greatly to the value of the work. In these notes is contained a 

 description of the zoosporangia and zoospores not included in the text. 



Underground Fungi of Portugal.f — 0. Mattirolo publishes a list 

 of truffles and other subterranean fungi collected in Portugal, and adds 

 a series of notes and observations on these plants. He finds that they 

 correspond with the similar flora of the Mediterranean region both in 

 Europe and in North Africa, just as the aerial vegetation of these lands 

 is much alike. None of these southern species have the same colora- 

 tion as those found in the north. They vary from white to violet or 

 chestnut brown, while the truffles in the north are black or dark brown. 

 The area of distribution of the different forms varies with the distribu- 

 tion of the plants on the roots of which they grow, and that again is 

 determined by climate and by the character of the soil. Mattirolo 

 records 10 species, all of them edible fungi. 



Development of Ascus and Spore-formation in Ascomycetes.J — 

 The intention of J. Horace Faull in starting his research on Ascomycetes 

 was to extend our knowledge of the ascus in other species, only com- 

 paratively few having been examined as yet. The most favourable 



* M6m. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. P6tersbourg, ser. 8, xvi.,No. 4 (1904) 24 pp., 3 pis. 



t Atti Reale Accad. Lincei, cccii. (1905) pp. 384-6. 



% Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., xxxii. (1905) pp. 77-113 (pis. 7-11). 



