by a number of perfect photographs, of which we reproduce three of 

 the most interesting. Fig. 171 is Phallus aurantiacus, natural size. If 

 you will imagine the figure to have a red stem and a red pileus (when 

 the gleba is washed away) you will have a perfect conception of the 

 species. 



It is well known that all phalloids are of rapid development from 

 the "eggs" but I never realized it was so rapid as shown in his figure 

 (172). It does not seem possible that the interval of time between the 



third and last stages is only one 

 minute. This can not be called 

 "growth ;" it is elasticity, and Mr. 

 Cobb presents another figure (173) 

 that demonstrates the nature of the 

 mechanism. It is an enlargement 

 (three diameters) of a section of a 

 young egg. The cells of the stem 

 will be seen to be flattened or com- 

 pressed. As the plant develops they 

 expand and become globose which 

 rapidly prolongs the stem. I know 

 of nothing in plant life with which 

 to compare it, but the way in which 

 a child's "jumping jack" comes out 

 of the box when the lid is opened is 

 somewhat similar. 



Mr. Cobb's paper is marred by 

 but one feature. He discovers this 



, .. , . ^^ plant to be a "new species," Ithy- 



Bv ' phallus coralloides. A careful study 

 * |y of his notes shows but one possible 

 ^< .; "^''^^ i .. v jjlf^. difference between it and the usual 

 . J ',/%*< Phallus aurantiacus of many tropical 



^ countries. The pileus is imperforate, 



If and if that is a specific difference 



Fig. 173. there is a species now of Africa, 



Phallus sanguineus, otherwise the 



same, based on this one character. I suspect they will all be found to 

 be the same species, including Phallus rubicundus of the United States. 

 We ought to know them all better before we propose new species. 



CLATHRUS CANCELLATUS. Professor Ch. Van Bambeke, 

 of Gand, Belgium, has kindly favored me with additional information 

 in regard to the distribution of this species, extending its occurrence 

 further north than I had supposed. 



It is a very rare plant in Belgium, but it has been met at Water- 

 mael, near Brussels, by Mesdames Bommer and Rousseau, and Pro- 

 fessor Van Bambeke has a specimen that was found at Gand. It has 

 also been noted in Holland by Oudeman, and he states (Revisions des 

 Champignons, Vol. I, page 53) that Linnaeus saw it for the first time 

 between Amsterdam and Haarlem in 1735. 



355 



