228 Bibliographical Notices. 



Boudicr more fortunate in his endeavoui's to confirm the views of 

 M.Voronin (Abhundlungen der Sonckeiiborgischen iiaturforschendoM 

 Gesellschaft, !:>()"), pp. ;533, 334) ; but he saw the organs named 

 " scoleeites " by M.Tulasnc(Ann. Sci. Nat. sor. 5. vol. vi. ]). 211-220). 

 He considers that the fertilization of the Ascoboli is still involved in 

 much obscurit)-. 



In arranging his materials systematically, he regards the Ascoholi 

 as a di\'ision of the Fezizce characterized by asci furnished with 

 round or siibtriangular oi)ercula projecting above the hymenium 

 when nearly mature, and sporidia clothed vdih. a waxy, coloured 

 cpispore — or hyaline, and then having a membranaceous one, not gra- 

 nidar within nor tilled with oil-globules. He divides the old genus 

 Ascoholus into two princii)al sections, consisting of the true, and the 

 spm-ious or pezizoid species, di-riving his characters from the organs 

 of fi-uctificatiou : — the genuine, with coloured sporidia and projecting 

 asci ; the spurious, having hyaline sporidia and asci generally little 

 exserted, and consequently an hymenial surface only slightly papil- 

 late. These two sections are distributed into six genera, viz. Ange- 

 lina, Ascobolus, Saccobohis, Tliecotheius, Ihjparoh'ms, and Ascophanus. 

 The first contains only Ascobolus conglomeratus, Schwcin. The last 

 five are distinguished by the shape and position of the paraphyses 

 and asci, and the nature and arrangement of the sporidia. The 

 characters essential to the group M. Uoudier considers to be an 

 hymenium papillate with projecting, coloured, or hyaline asci, which 

 open by an apical, round or subtriangular operculum, and sporidia 

 rimose, with a coloured cpispore, or with a membranaceous one, and 

 then hyaline, not granular within, with a single nucleus, and with- 

 out oil-globules. The author is thus compelled to exclude certain 

 species, as Ascobolus jn'lcherrimus, Cr., Ascobolus Crouani, Cooke, 

 and others. A. Crouani, Cooke, is referred to the section llumaria 

 of the Fezizce, on account of the globules present in the sporidia ; 

 but a reference to the figure of the fruit in vol. xxiv. of the ' Lin- 

 nean Transactions,' p. 495, pi. 51, shows that the globules in ques- 

 tion become eventually reticulations, or, at least, that they are not 

 visible in the mature state of the sporidia. Nor is it very evident 

 wherein Ascobolus testaceus, Wallr., difi'crs from Ascophanus carneuSy 

 Bond. pi. 12. fig. 38. The genus Ascobolus is restricted to those 

 sjiecies with much -exserted asci, conspicuous for their dark tips 

 (from the colour of the sporidia) above the rest of the hymenium, 

 opening by a round and umbonate operculum, and enclosing eight 

 longitudinally rimose, free sporidia, which are either naked or ad- 

 herent laterally to a membrane, or each enclosed separately and 

 then subaggregate or easily separating, and paraphyses slender and 

 longer than the asci. 



The following species are included : — Ascobolus lir/natilis, A. & S., 

 A. Crouani, Bond, (the name having been given to A. miniatus, Cr., 

 by Mr. Cooke, it adds to the confusion to have it again applied to 

 another species) ; A. denudatus, Fr. ; A. vii-idis, Currey ; A. furfti- 

 raceus, P. ; A. vinosus, Berk. ; A. cubensis, B. & C. ; A. antfjineus, 

 Fr. ; A. fjlaber, P. (this species has occurred to us on rabbits' dung 



