86 



tions swell to a globular form, subsequently disunite, and again 

 develop to new plants ; yet rarely will two fluids be found in 

 which these plants are quite similarly circumstanced. In the 

 expressed juice of a Borsdorfer apple, a fungus of this kind, of 

 great beauty, was formed together with the Saccharomyces; 

 several large, almost globular flocks, frequently of the size of 

 a pea, were present in the fluid, which were separated from 

 one another, and always consisted of a very large, or rather in- 

 numerable coils, of such single confervoid fungi, at the basis 

 probably adherent. I observed this very interesting form for 

 many weeks, and placed a single flock in a watch-glass with 

 pure water, and so that the branches came to lie close at the 

 surface ; to prevent the evaporation of the water the whole was 

 covered with a plate of glass. In the lapse of from eight to ten 

 days new radiate bundles were evident, and among these might 

 be observed several which proceeded from the globular sepa- 

 rated articulations of the original confervoid fungus, while 

 others had developed fruit and represented nothing else than 

 Mucor Mucedo when growing in water. 



This form of the Mucor growing in water is but slightly 

 different from the aerial form, and even the outer membrane 

 of the sporangium may be observed on it. Mr. Berkeley* 

 has observed the origin of this confervoid fungus in currant 

 wine, and also noticed that it developed the organs of fructi- 

 fication of Mucor clavatus. The drawings which Mr. Berke- 

 ley has given prove sufficiently that in both cases we have 

 observed one and the same species ; I however consider the 

 Mucor as M. Mucedo, and am of opinion, from actual fre- 

 quently repeated observations, that M. clavatus is merely a 

 small variety of M. Mucedo, and cannot be regarded as a di- 

 stinct species. 



From this observation, which I repeated, I conclude that 

 iheMycodermes are undeveloped vegetable forms, and, as some 

 other observations show, belong to the genera Mucor, Penni- 

 cillum and Aspergillus"\ . And here also belong the greatest 



* On a Confervoid State^of Mucor clavatus, Lk. Mag. Zool. and Bot., 

 vol. ii. p. 390. 



f Note. I would here especially enforce upon botanists the necessity of 

 at last directing their observations to the development of the lower forms of 

 Fungi, a subject which will be in the highest degree rewarded although the 

 number of the so-called species and genera of recent times will frightfully 

 disappear. Dr, Meyen, 



