121 



for its chemical composition, but as constituting a new genus in the 

 family of the Tuberacei, occurred in the spring of the present year, 

 growing gregariously upon fragments of wood on the sands by the 

 sea-shore at Sketty, near Swansea. To the naked eye each indi- 

 vidual specimen presents the appearance of a small, round, somewhat 

 flattened body, of a dull yellow colour, and with an unevenness of 

 surface caused by numberless convolutions of the coat of the fungus, 

 which require the aid of a lens in order to be clearly seen. The 

 diameter of the largest specimen does not much exceed the l-8th of 

 an inch. Externally there is a strong resemblance to small speci- 

 mens of Dacrymyces deliquescens, or perhaps a nearer still to the 

 truffle described by Tulasne, in the " Fungi hypogsei," under the 

 name of Hydnobolites cerebriformis. This resemblance, however, 

 is only superficial, as will be seen by the following description of the 

 plant when examined microscopically. The coat of the fungus con- 

 sists of a convoluted membrane of considerable thickness, formed of 

 several layers of cells, the outer of which are large and rounded, 

 the inner long and flat. In most of the specimens the contents of 

 the coat consist mainly of an innumerable multitude of naked spores ; 

 but in almost all, a careful examination will detect, here and there, 

 isolated sacs or asci containing sporidia ; and a few of the plants 

 which were in a younger state than the rest exhibited asci in abun- 

 dance, showing satisfactorily that the fungus must be classed with the 

 Ascomycetes, not with the Gasteromycetes. 



There is no doubt that the asci are absorbed at an early period, 

 and the sporidia then form a dense mass. 



It is exceedingly difficult, from the crowded state of the contents, 

 to trace out the manner in which the asci originate ; but I have 

 satisfied myself that they spring at intervals from threads proceed- 

 ing from the inner surface of the thick external membrane. Fig. 4 

 represents one of these threads with the asci springing from it, 

 magnified 315 diameters. The asci themselves are broadly clavate, 

 with a very short stem, and are frequently, if not usually, drawn out 

 at the apex into a sort of point, as shown in figs. 2, 3 and 4. 



The sporidia are extremely curious. They are globular and co- 

 lourless, and furnished with long delicate sharp rays projecting from 

 the surface in every direction. Each sporidium is furnished with an 

 internal nucleus, or probably oil- drop (sometimes broken up into 



