142 



ORIGIN OF THE YEASTS 



Fig. 57. A. Showing Copulation and Asc Formation 

 in Eremascus fertilis; B, 



fibuliger. 



These anastomoses prove then, that, although sexuality may have 



disappeared, there seems to be a rudimentary sexual attraction quite 



comparable to the phenomena which have been observed in certain 



yeasts (Schw. occidenta- 

 lis, yeasts of Rose and 

 Dombrowski, etc.). 

 However when one 

 compares these anas- 

 tomoses with the sexual 

 production of Eremas- 

 cus fertilis, he is struck 

 by the resemblance 

 which exists between 

 the method of forma- 

 tion of ascs in these 

 two fungi (Fig. 57). 



The Same for Endomyces In one and the other, 

 two contiguous cells 



produce protuberances which seem to search for each other. With 



Eremascus fertilis, they reunite 



to form an egg while in E. 



fibuliger they constantly fail in 



their attempt. (Fig. 57, A 



and B.) It is not doubtful that 



the anastomosis which precedes 



the formation of the asc in the 



latter fungus represents traces 



of an ancestral reproduction 



analogous to that which occurs 



in Eremascus fertilis to which 



E. fibuliger is closely related. 



We may then regard E. fibuliger 



as a form derived from a genus 



neighboring Eremascus fertilis. 



The ascospores have the same 



form as those of Willia anomala; 



they are hemispherical and pro- 

 vided with a projecting color 



giving them the appearance of 



a hat. On the other hand, 



they are supplied, like those of E. fertilis, with two membranes. The 



external membrane is burst during germination. The ascospores ger- 

 minate either in the form of yeasts or with a mycelium. 



Fig. 58. Endomyces capsularis. 



1, Fragment of the Mycelium Showing the Formation 

 of Yeasts. 2 and 3, Fragment of the mycelium Pro- 

 ducing Ascs. 



