POLLEY : OBSERVATIONS ON PHYSALACR1A INFLATA. 325 



cross section all of the cells appear circular and the largest are 

 ii /JL in diameter and four or five times as large as the smallest 

 ones. The latter are 2.5 to 4^ in diameter and are probably 

 stereome in function, while the former have perhaps to do 

 mainly with conduction. There are, even in the young stems, 

 fairly large air spaces between the hyphae. The outer portion 

 of the stipe consists of a looser weft of septate branching 

 hyphae which produce large flask-shaped cells, (7-9^ x 22-40 

 IJL ) pointing outward and giving to the surface a hairy appear- 

 ance. The stipe is hollow when old. 



The club consists of a very thin wall "enclosing a gelatinous 

 interior {fig's. <?, j). The subhymenial layer is composed of 

 very fine, septate, closely-woven, much branched hyphae. On 

 the inside of this layer the hyphae float out in single branching 

 strands which show abundant clamp-connections {fig- /). The 

 clamp-connections appear to agree with those described by 

 Brefeld (9) in Coprinus, rather than with those which Harper 

 (10) observed in Hypochnus. For in the latter stages walls are 

 formed at both ends of the clamp cell rather than only at the 

 end from which the clamp-cell originated. In some cases the 

 branch which forms the clamp is of considerable length, form- 

 ing a large loop (Jig. 5). It was also observed that in many 

 cases the ends of approaching hyphae are fused, forming a simi- 

 lar figure to that of a large clamp (fig. 9, a). The hymenial 

 layer shows differentiation into three kinds of cells. The 

 " paraphyses " which are probably immature basidia, are small 

 and closely packed (fig. 4). Large flask-shaped cells pro- 

 longed into blunt spine-like processes project outward. Some 

 of them do not reach the surface of the cap while others project 

 beyond (figs, i, 10). They are of the same shape as the hair- 

 like cells of the stem and seem to serve the usual protective pur- 

 pose of the cystidia of the lower hymenomycetes. They are 

 probably also special excretory cells as is indicated in the abun- 

 dance of calcium oxalate crystals excreted and in the sunken 

 posjtionof many. The outer ends of these cells are covered by 

 an irregular cap of crystals (figs. 6, 8). A third distinct type 

 of cells in the hymenium are the basidia. They are somewhat 

 thicker than the " paraphyses " and the sterigmata protrude 

 beyond the surface. Peck and also Farlow described for this 

 species two-spored basidia. This material shows, however, 

 that the latter carry from two to four spores. Numerous 



