198 THE AMEUK AN MONTHLY [July, 



these were coniplotfly decayed, tlie leaves were dead, some 

 )>eets were less affected, the crown and one side was rotten, 

 with a few leaves more or less curled. In some s})ecimcus the 

 crown had a lar>re 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 

 hrown mycelium of the fungus ( Plate II. lig. ^O. This mycel- 

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

 root* and rootlets are invaded. The plant then succumhs. It 

 freijucntly ha})pens that the disease has extended half way 

 down the root, the lower j)art hcing 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 affected 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 specimens 

 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. c). Occasionally they penetrate the cell and oc- 

 cur in the cell-cavity. An afl'ected beet placed in a moist 

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

 gus. The figures (Plate II, figs, h, c andr/), 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 develoj) 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 Coprimis. Everhart and Ellis in The Mi- 

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

 prinus, theC. scleroti genus, 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- 



