RA(JI AND TAVEJ. 93 



utcoiiipuuied by a little t*r\ tliro<K'Xtiin. It wouhl therefore 

 Keem as tliuuj,'li the funi.'iis in question is unly t'ajMible — pre- 

 feiahly 01* perhaps exclusively — of saccliuiifying this carbo- 

 hyilnite, ami not the j^raiuilose which forms the i-hief con>tituent 

 of sUiivh j^iaiuih'S in the othrr kin<ls of meal speeHieil. lienee 

 this fundus mij^ht possibly be employed as jiii iiuxiliary in 

 roui^hly estimatiiif^ the jieivenUij^e of •jraiiulose in starch. The 

 vieUl of su''ar ol)tainable bv the action of this fundus on starch 

 is somewhat low. Thus, for example, in an experiment recordetl 

 by Phinsex (iEKKLios (II.), lOO parts of auiyhxlextrin furnished: 

 110 parts of dextrose by s;iccharification under i»rfssure with 

 an acid, but only 6S.5 of dextro.se when s^icchariiied by the 

 fungus. The latter consumes a certiiin amount of the sugar 

 as a source of carbon for its own ihmmIs ; ami it can also 

 utilise alcohol for the snuio purpose. The nitrogen reipiisite 

 for l)uililing up the cell it can tike up from itept^>ne, aspara- 

 gin,and ammoniinu .sjilts, but not from nitrates and nitrites. It 

 is incapable of producing invertin. 



A new species, allied to the foregoing, has been de.scribeil, 

 under the name Mnror javaiticuf, by C. Wkjimek (Xlll.). It 

 occurs both in Kagi and Chine.se yea.st, mainly in the form 

 of gemuuv, which retiin their geiniinativi' jiower for at least 

 five yeai-s in these media. Moiphologically, they doselv 

 resemble Muror alteruavK and .1/. rirritwl/nitftv. The mvcelial 

 hyplue measure i 3 t<i 15 .a in thickness. With increasing age 

 the pre.sonce of oil droi)s in the plasma imparts to the latter 

 a tlecided coloration, which, however, is not .so powerful as 

 in the case of Muror liuuxii. Similar fatty inclusions are also 

 found in the gemma-. These latter are put forth bv the 

 mycflium, both upon and in the nutrient sul)stratum, and 

 attiiin a dijimeter of 4 to 20 a. being therefore far smaller 

 than tho.se of the last-named species. When the nutrient sub- 

 stratum is sulliciently consistent, there .springs uj> from the 

 mycelium a den.se herbage of sponingiophmes, which form 

 sympoilial branches, attain a height of i cm. and over, and 

 «levelop a globular sporangium on each of their six or more 

 branches. The dimensions of the sporangiiun increase with 

 the height of the support and vary between the limits of z,o 

 and 20 a in diameter. The colour of the sponingium is vel- 

 lowish-grey to brownish : and the membrane is ahnost Jilwavs 

 smooth, as is also the globular (10 to 35 a) columella. The 

 spores are globular to elliptical, colourless, .snjooth and thin 

 in the nuMnbrane. and measure 5 to 6 a, or 5 to 7 /u, by 4 to 

 5 .u. ITp to tlie prt'sent, no zygosjuires have been observe*!. 

 The optinuim temperature of development lies between 35 and 

 40" C When developed in .sju-charilied malt extnict or in a 

 solution of dextrose and nutrient stilts, this fungus jirinluces an 

 ap]>rocial)le amount of alcohol ; neither this matter, nor the 



