THE MOULD-FUNGI. 101 



of the disc ; some of them remain thin, others swell up to 

 club-shaped asci, and each of these asci forms in its interior 

 eight oval spores (n). The mould has now entered upon the 

 stage in which the formation of apothecia takes place. The 

 spores germinate when they are set free, and the germ tubes 

 grow into conidiophores. 



According to BEKSCH, Friz, and KEESS, this mould growth is 

 the cause of one of the diseases of wine, which manifests itself 

 as an unpleasant smoky taste and smell. Similar cases of 

 disease have been occasionally observed in breweries ; it has, 

 however, not yet been determined with certainty whether they 

 are caused by this mould. 



In rainy seasons, when Botrytis attacks the grapes at a time 

 when these are unripe, the mycelium, penetrating through the 

 pulp, destroys the small amount of sugar in the grapes, and as it 

 kills the cells, a fresh immigration of sugar from the leaves is 

 checked or rendered impossible. Such grapes act injuriously 

 upon the quality of the wine. As the mycelium penetrates into 

 the stalks also, causing these to die off, the very young grapes on 

 such a cluster do not generally develop, but wither away. In 

 years when vineyards abound in good grapes, this fungus usually 

 does not make its appearance till a short time before the close of 

 the vintage, when it is less dangerous to the fruit ; in certain 

 countries as, for instance, the Kheingau, Sauterne this slow- 

 developing grape disease, the so-called " Edelfaule," is positively 

 liked, because the berries attacked contain a considerably 

 smaller amount of acid than the sound ones, and the wine 

 obtained from such grapes acquires a particularly agreeable 

 mild taste. 



2. PENTCILLIUM GLAUCUM. 



A mould which is far more widely distributed in the fermen^ 

 tation industries, especially in green malt, is Penicillium 

 glaucum. It forms a felt-like mass on the substratum, is at 

 first white, then greenish or bluish-grey, and spreads with great 

 rapidity. The mycelium consists of transparent branched and 

 divided filaments, which, when immersed in liquids, are liable 

 to swell somewhat irregularly. From these filaments the 



