_— 1924 
1 
WOLPERT—FUNGI AND H-ION CONCENTRATION OF MEDIA 98 
in а solidified media, celluloses derived from the filter-paper and 
from pine, white oak, and maple woods. Poplar-wood cellulose 
was not used in either сазе. 
Pleurotus ostreatus, Polyporus adustus, and Armillaria mellea 
are equally active in maximum growth and cellulose utilization. 
While the last species was grown only in culture with the filter- 
paper strips, its ability to utilize this form of cellulose intimates 
that it would utilize the celluloses in the Richards’ solution as 
readily as the first 2 species did. The other species show inter- 
mediate use of the cellulose between the Pleurotus ostreatus type 
and the Lenzites sepiaria type. 
It must be remembered that growth in the cellulose-nutrient 
solutions can not be compared favorably to growth obtained in 
any of the synthetic media where sugar and peptone are used. 
In only a few cases was growth equal to that obtained in the 
Richards’ solution. Under the conditions of these experiments 
there is no doubt that sugar and peptone alone or in combination 
are much more effective as sources of carbon than any of the 
cellulose suspensions. 
In view of the sensitiveness of many wood-destroying fungi 
toward alkalinity, it may well be asked if this principle may not 
be applied in wood preservation. This, of course, is a practical 
problem beset with many difficulties, such as the diverse condi- 
tions under which fungi grow and under which the wood is to 
be used. However, the inability of many fungi to grow on an 
alkaline substratum may be of use in the final solution of this 
problem. A cheap method for impregnation of freshly cut ties 
and other lumber with some chemical or combination of chemicals, 
leading to a definite and lasting alkaline reaction of the tissues, 
would, it is believed, be a definite step in eliminating the heavy 
financial losses due to the rapid decay of such timber by some 
species of Agaricales and other fungi. 
CONCLUSIONS 
The growth reactions of Daedalea confragosa, Armillaria 
mellea, Pholiota adiposa, Pleurotus ostreatus, Polyporus adustus, 
Schizophyllum commune, Polystictus versicolor, and Lenzites 
sepiaria toward different initial active acidity of synthetic, 
