TORULA. 



[ 646 ] 



TORULACEI. 



tococcus by some authors, of whom a part 

 consider it a Fungus, another part (Kiitzing 



Fig. 761. 



Torula sacchari (aerial form) . 

 Magnified 200 diameters. 



especially) an Alga. The same varieties of 

 form occur in the Vinegar plant, and in both 

 cases Penicillium glaucum seems invariably 

 to succeed to the preceding when kept at a 

 moderate temperature. Thus between all 

 these various forms, together with Oidium 

 lactis, there appears to be a relation, not yet 

 quite clearly made out, indicating that they 

 probably represent different states of the same 

 plant growing under different conditions of 

 nutrition and temperature. Further remarks 

 on this head are made under YEAST and 

 VINEGAR PLANT. A growth similar to T. 

 sacchari presents itself sometimes in decom- 

 posing urine (PI. 20. fig. 7), from healthy 

 subjects, and indeed scarcely any decompo- 

 sing animal or vegetable fluid, in which 

 there exist fermentable elements, remain 

 long free from Tbrw/a-like growths, if left 

 exposed to the air (see FERMENTATION). 



We find it impossible to give definite cha- 

 racters for the species that have been enu- 

 merated. T. herbarum may be named as a 

 common form growing on decaying stems of 

 plants ; it forms at first erect greenish tufts, 

 which afterward become blackish, ramify 

 and form a black crust, the spores readily 

 separating. T. Sporendonema, a form grow- 

 ing on decaying cheese, represents the Spo- 

 rendonema casei of Desmazieres. T. Fumago 

 is now separated with other forms under the 

 genus CAPNODIUM. T. alternata also is 

 the type of the genus ALTERNARIA. 



BIBL. Berk. Brit. Flor. ii. pt. 2. p. 359, 

 Ann. Nat. Hist. i. p. 263, vi. p. 439. 2nd ser. 

 v. p. 460, xiii. p. 460 ; Fries, Syst. Myc. iii. 

 499, Summa Veget. 505; Fresenius, Beitr. 



z. Myc. 2nd heft. 58. pi. 6. fig. 55 ; Corda, 

 Icones Fungorum. 



TORULACEI. A family of Coniomyce- 

 tous Fungi, forming moulds and mildews on 

 decaying vegetable substances, or acting as 

 ferments in decomposing vegetable and ani- 

 mal fluids. They are compound microscopic, 

 cylindrical or beaded filaments, simple or 

 ramified, the joints of which (all or part) se- 

 parate from each other to form the " spores". 

 There is no definite receptacle here, the 

 mycelium grows as a cottony web over or in 

 the infected body, or forms clouds or flocks 

 in liquids. Much obscurity prevails respect- 

 ing most of the genera included below, and it 

 is indeed doubtful whether most of them are 

 independent productions. Some species of 

 Torula, such as T. Cerevisia (the Yeast 

 fungus), appear intimately connected with 

 certain Hyphomycetous genera, perhaps 

 merely representing their conidiferous forms 

 (see TORULA). ACHORION again seems to 

 be merely the spermogonous form of a Puc- 

 cinia. Sporendonema is founded apparently 

 on imperfect observation; S. muscce, the true 

 characters of which are given under that 

 head, has been renamed Empusa, and its 

 proper position is as yet obscure, but it would 

 appear to be referable to the Mucorini. Dic- 

 tyosporium (fig. 175, page 208), Speira (fig. 



Fig. 762. 



Fig. 764. 



< festn 

 Fig. 763. 



Fig. 762. Speira toruloides. Magnified 200 diameters . 

 Fig. 763. Gyrocerus ammonis. Magnified 200 diams. 

 Fig. 764. Trimmatostroma salicis. Magnified 200 

 diameters. 



762) and Trimmatosiroma (fig. 764) appear 

 to consist merely of the spores of some other 

 genera ; Gyrocerus (fig. 765) cannot be re- 

 garded as a perfect form, and indeed all the 



