220 THALLOPHYTA. [CH. 



small spore-like bodies are figured which the authors speak of 

 as possibly a Myxomycetous fungus \ There is however no 

 sound reason for such a supposition. 



As examples of Ascomycetous fungi found in silicified 

 wood of Tertiary age, two species may be quoted from Felix. 



Cladosporites hipartitus Felix ^ fig. 43, 3. The mycelium 

 and conidia of this form were discovered in some Eocene silici- 

 fied wood from Perekeschkul near Baku, on the shores of the 

 Caspian. The conidia are elliptical or pyriform in shape and 

 divided by a transverse septum into two cells. No traces were 

 found of any special conidiophores. The mycelium consists of 

 septate branched hyphae, rendered conspicuous by a brown 

 colouration. Felix compares the fossil with the recent genera 

 Cephalothecium and Cladosporium. 



Haptographites canteniger Felix ^, fig. 43, 4. The conidia of 

 this form were found to be fairly abundant in the silicified 

 tissue investigated by Felix ; they occur usually in chains of 2 

 to 6 conidia having an ovoid or flask-shaped form, with a thick 

 membrane (fig. 43, 4). The mycelium consists of branched 

 hyphae divided into long cylindrical cells by transverse septa ; 

 occasional instances were found of an H-shaped fusion between 

 lateral branches of parallel hyphae. 



Felix compares this species with examples of the genera 

 Haptographiu7n and Dematium of the family Sphaeriaceae ; 

 it was found in the woody tissue of a dicotyledonous stem from 

 Perekeschkul. 



Zygosporites sp. The object represented in fig. 41 F consists 

 of a stalked spherical sac bearing a number of radiating 

 arms which are divided distally into delicate terminations. 

 We find similar bodies figured by Williamson^ in his IXth 

 and Xth Memoirs on the Coal-Measure plants; he includes 

 some of them under the generic term Zygosporites, and 



1 Cash and Hick, PL vi. fig. 3. 



2 Felix (94) p. 276, PL xix. fig. 1. 



3 ibid. p. 274, PL xix. figs. 5 and 6. 



4 WiUiamson (78) and (80). 



