CLASSIFICATION OF THE TRUE FUNGI. 



115 



hard and wax-like, is known as ergot (Secale cornutum). It 

 occurs most frequently in the bloom of rye, more rarely in 

 barley and wheat. Damp situations favour its appearance. 



To this group belong also Cordyceps isaria; fungi, whose 

 conidia bearers (isaria) develop parasitically on living larvae 

 and caterpillars, while the perithecial fructification develops 

 on the dead animals in the form of club-like stromata (cordy- 

 ccps). Also Fumago and pleospora, which are parasitic on 

 ants, and laboulbenia on insects, but often without any 

 serious disturbance of health. 



Botrytis, grape mould. Fruit hyphae divided at the apex 

 into little short closely aggregated branches, on which the 

 unicellular spores are seated. The proper fructification by 

 ascospores is unknown in most of the varieties. Mould-like 

 fungi occurring on putrefying portions of plants, but also 

 parasitic 011 insects. 



Botrytis Bassiana, the muscardine fungus. As was first Bassi's mus- 

 recognised by Bassi in the year 1835, this fungus is the cause 

 of the fatal disease of silkworms, called muscardine or calcino. 



Fig. (5. Botrytis Bassiana. (After de Bary.) 



A, spore-bearing portions of the fruit hyphas X 390. 



5, spore-bearing twigs, at b most of the conidia have fallen off X 700. 



C, fungus threads from the inner part of the skin of a caterpillar, 

 at c numerous cylindriform conidia are being given off by stran- 

 gulation X 300. 



This disease formerly caused great devastations, but for some 

 years has almost entirely disappeared. This fungus also 

 occurs on various indigenous butterfly caterpillars and 

 insects. It penetrates through the skin into the body, the 

 germinating tubes pass deeply among the muscular bundles 

 and fat lobules, where they give off cylindrical conidia from 

 their sides and apices. These conidia multiply in the blood, 

 and form a widely distributed mycelium by longitudinal 

 growth and transverse segmentation. From this mycelium 



