LEVINE: CyTOLOGY oF HYMENOMYCETES 151 
thodes, for the excretion of water, I may note that my microscopic 
sections of mycelia in the region where the water appears showed 
no such specialized organs for its excretion. I found no differ- 
entiated structure that could be possibly associated with such a 
function and I am of the opinion that all the mycelial cells can 
excrete water. 
CARPOPHORE AND BASIDIA OF THE BOLETI 
The carpophores of the Boleti because- of their soft fleshy 
consistency and rapid growth are more favorable for cytological 
study than the pilei of the Polypores. An abundance of material 
of the common Boletus granulatus collected in the fall of 1911 
proved favorable for fixing and staining. A large number of other 
forms were also studied for comparison. Pieces of the stipe, ; 
pileus, ring,* and pores were fixed with Flemming’s weaker solutions 
and Merkel’s mixture. Flemming’s triple stain was used almost 
exclusively although a number of preparations were stained with 
Heidenhain’s iron haematoxylin. 
Longitudinal sections of all parts of the stipe, at, eae d and 
below the ring show it is composed of an undifferentiated mass of 
interwoven hyphae. The hyphal cells toward the center of an 
old stipe are more loosely interwoven as compared with those 
near the periphery and form what Ruhland has appropriately 
called a plectenchyma. The cells vary in diameter and present an 
appearance in cross section similar to that figured by Harper 
(1902) for Coprinus ephemerus, although the difference in diameter 
is not quite so great. The cross walls show the so-called proto- 
plasmic connections as figured by Strasburger (1884). Clamp 
connections on hyphal anastomoses are entirely lacking. Many 
cells in the plectenchyma are binucleated; the majority, however, 
are multinucleated. The distribution of these cells is not regular 
although there is a tendency for the cells in the center of the stipe 
to become multinucleated early. According to Maire this multi- 
nucleated condition is the result of an amitotic division of the two 
original nuclei in the cell, though no one has conclusively proved 
* The presence or absence of a ring is the generally accepted means of separat- 
g Boletus luteus and B. granulatus. In my m material, both annulate and exannu- 
Sins forms, otherwise indistinguishable, were collected at the same time and place, 
