198 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [July, 



these were completely decayed, the leaves were dead, some 

 beets were less affected, the crown and one side was rotten, 

 with a few leaves more or less curled. In some specimens the 

 crown had a large hole (Plate I, fig. 6); in others, an elongated 

 fissure occurred on the sides. 



The exterior surface of the holes is closely invested with the 

 brown mycelium of the fungus (Plate II, fig. a). This mycel- 

 ium extends down the root, slowly advancing till all the smaller 

 roots and rootlets are invaded. The plant then succumbs. It 

 frequently happens that the disease has extended half way 

 down the root, the lower part being perfectly sound. Just how 

 these fissures are formed, I have not been able to make out. It 

 may be due to a skrinkage of the tissues, owing to the attacks 

 of the fungus or to a mechanical injury. 



On pulling up aff'ected beets, the diseased part invariably has 

 soil adhering to it, while the undiseased is free. The border 

 line is marked by a brownish color. In very young si)ecimens 

 it is reddish, with the tissues more or less shrunken. A cross 

 section through this part shows that the branched, nearly color- 

 less threads ramify between the cells and intercellular spaces, 

 (Plate II, fig. e). Occasionally they penetrate the cell and oc- 

 cur in the cell-cavity. An affected beet placed in a moist 

 chamber is soon covered with a very dense growth of the fun- 

 gus. The figures (Plate II, figs. 6, c andfi), show threads of the 

 fungus. Every specimen examined contained this fungus, and 

 frequently many other saprophytic species. Rotting beets give 

 off a very strong odor not unlike that of rotting potatoes. 



Since publishing the above, quite a large number of scleratia 

 were found in rotting beets. They began to develop as white 

 masses on the surface of the rotting beet, the exterior surface be- 

 coming greyish brown in color. These scleratia were hard and 

 smooth, shining, and greyish brown on the exterior surface. 

 When fully mature the interior was made up of a white solid 

 mass of branched hyphae. After a lapse of two months from 

 the time that they began to develop, the fruiting form was pro- 

 duced, a species of Coprinus. Everhart and Ellis in The Mi- 

 croscope, (Vol. X, No. 5, p. 129), have described a species of Co- 

 primes, the C. scleroligenus, which is larger in every respect. The 

 scleratia of our species are not larger than a small-sized pea. 

 The pileus and stipe are also smaller. It may be that our spe- 



