SL'LPHUlt, SKLENU'M. SILICON, ETC. 49 



is a suitiilile i)|ij)ortuiiity fur laentioiiin^ a ntitrient solution 

 {Litjuiile Jiuii/iii) still used in Fifucli hiliorut^jiifs, fur lx»th 

 moulds iind fission fungi. It was i-oiii|Miund<'d l»v UaL'LIX 

 (I. and III.) on thf basis of his observations, which we now 

 know to liave been si>iiiiuli:it imperfect, and is com{jo.sed of: — 



Next to pot-i.sh, phosphoric acid is the most important asb 

 constituent in fungi. K\i>ling analyst's place the figures at 

 between 15 and 60 per cent.; though it should be mentioned 

 that not all the reports on this point are of efpial value, sonie 

 of them relating to ca.ses where insufficient regard was j>aid to 

 the volatility of phosphoric aci<l in presence of carbon, during 

 the preparation of the ash. The consensus of existing expeii- 

 ments favours the a.ssumption that jdiosphorus is e.^vsential to 

 the .structure of fungi ; and, moreover, it is known that this 

 element forms an important constituent of the nucleins (.^ 252). 

 The eagerness with which this ftXKl.stuff is absorbed from the 

 medium can be gathered from an in.stjince recorded bv 

 J. ScuLossBEiiGEU and O. DiEPPi.NC (I.), wherein a pileateil 

 fungus, iMifaltu <jmrn'7ia — of the Piili/jiurea group, and allied to 

 the dry-rot fungus — was found to have comj>letely extracted the 

 phosphoric iu-id from decayed oak woixl. With a view toascertiiin- 

 ing tlie local distribution of phosphoric acid among the in<lividual 

 constituents of tlu? cell contents, L. Liliexkeld and A. Monti 

 (I.) have de.scribed a prcx'ess. which consi.sts in first immersing 

 the prejtaration in a nitric .solution of annnonium molybdate, 

 whereby a yellow precipit;ite of ammonium phosphomolvlKlate is 

 produced in such parts of the cell where phosphoric acid, capable 

 of reacting, is present. Then, after washing out tlu* prepaiu- 

 tion, it is exposed to the action of a reducing agent (such as a 

 20 per cent, .solution of pyrogallol) ; this reduces the molybdic 

 acid to lower stjiges of o.xidation, which, by their brown or blue 

 colour, reveal the locality and dirtribution of the phosphoric 

 acid in the cell. In this manner the hypha* of liolri/tiii ntirrm, 

 the spores of the sjime fungus, and the cells of Mncor and Sao-It- 

 arotni/cetrs, have been teste<l for phosphorus bv S. Pollacci (I.). 

 According to its authors, the method is cajcible of detecting not 

 merely the phosphoric acid in combination as inorganic ortho- 

 phosphates, but also, in many cases, that present in orpmic 

 combination, especially in the nvudeius. It has, however, been 

 found by L. IIkink (1. and II.) that the same colovu* rwiction 

 VOL. II. D 



