Meyen's Report for 1839 on Physiological Botany. 4G3 



In the description of the hymcnium the three usual layers are 

 mentioned, and a circumstantial description of the lacteous 

 vessels which are found in some of the Agaricini is given ; a 

 splendid figure of these vessels, with the whole hymenium of 

 Agaricus fcetens, gives the best information on this subject. 

 In Ag.foetens, says M. Corda, there is found between the cells 

 of the two different cellular systems (namely, the layer of tubes 

 and that of spherical cells) a third system, which is interwoven 

 with the others, and which consists of perfect, branched and 

 anastomosing narrow tubes, which have walls proper to them, 

 and contain a milk-like, half transparent, white granular sap, 

 which appears to move slowly in the direction of the tubes. 

 M. Corda believes he may truly say that he first clearly de- 

 scribed and delineated this vascular system in the Fungi, for 

 the drawing which M. Schultz has given o{ Agaricus deliciosus 

 is very confused and unnatural. These lacteous vessels pass 

 through all organs and tissues of Agaricus f ceteris ; they are 

 equally distributed, only the gills and the outer layer of the 

 stipes appear to contain more of them. The tubes are clear, 

 almost always of equal thickness, generally serpentine and 

 much branched : and often the cells of the large-celled paren- 

 chym are deposited in rays around the lacteous vessels, and 

 surround them for some distance with a cylindrical layer of 

 cells. Where these vessels approach the surface of a gill 

 they send out peculiar, long, blind (closed) branches, which 

 form Mdth their conical ends the outermost layer of the gill 

 and hymenium. The structure and formation of the organs 

 of fructification are then fully described : the female ones are 

 called, according to Leveille, basidia ; they consist of the body, 

 the spore-supporters (Sterigmata of M. Corda, an appellation 

 which has, however, already been used. — M.), the contents 

 and the spores. The formation is the same as given in the 

 former Report, p. 54. " Every sporophore," says M. Corda, 

 '^produces always but one spore at once, and afterwards se- 

 veral one after the other, exactly in the same manner as the 

 terminal points of the fertile flocci of the HypliomycetceP 

 Whether this assertion is grounded on actual observations 

 is not stated ; and I must beg leave to doubt that the for- 

 mation of spores at the point of the spore-bearer is repeated 

 after the first spores have fallen off. The spores consist, ac- 

 cording to M. Corda, of a cuticle, a nucleus, and of oily glo- 

 bules, and where the spores are terminal they have a conical, 

 pointed or blunt perforated Avart, and this opening has been 

 formerly called Hylus, window, navel, etc. Spores with the 

 hylus at the side are to be called spora pleurotropce, and 

 those which have the hylus in the axis, sporce trepanotrojia ; 

 and M. Corda promises to show at a future period in what 



