374 T^^ Fungus Disease of India. [part ii. 



and both of these elements were of a bright rosy colour. Where filaments of mycelium 

 penetrated such masses, their contents also were frequently of a similar bright pink, 

 and this coloration of the protoplasm in many cases was not confined to those portions 

 which were absolutely within or in contact with the coloured material, but continued 

 for some distance farther, rendering the affected filaments very conspicuous, as pink or 

 carmine bands among the surrounding colourless mycelial and bacterial elements, and 

 gradually fading off so as to leave them in their original condition. 



The pink colouring was not confined to the living bodies present in the cultivation, 

 but also affected portions of the tissue of the rice grains in the paste. The pink colour 

 was confined to the protoplasm of the mycelium and did not affect the walls of the 

 filaments, for, when the former was caused to contract under the influence of re-agents, 

 the latter, which were then more or less widely separated from it, were seen to be 

 perfectly colourless. 



These patches of pink colour were of a very transitory nature ; they had entirely 

 disappeared in forty-eight hours after they were first observed, and there was no 

 recurrence of them afterwards, although the cultivation was kept for several weeks 

 under observation. The Mucor never showed such a luxuriance of growth and fructifica- 

 tion in this as in the former cultivation, and the paste ultimately became covered with 

 a dense coating of Penicillium glaucum., and of a form of Hehninthos'poriuin with a 

 dark brown mycelium. A few orange coloured stains, like those in Cultivation I, also 

 appeared on the paste, but these showed no special peculiarities on microscopical 

 investigation. 



It is needless to repeat the details of numerous other experiments on cultivation 

 of the black masses, as the results were in all cases essentially similar to those described 

 above, and this both where the materials had and had not been subjected to preservation 

 in alcohol, or other preservative agents.* The only variations observed concerned the 

 species of common moulds which were developed in different instances, and the relative 

 proportions which the individual species bore to one another in the different cultivations. 

 It may be sufficient to state that in no case did any forms of fungi or other organisms 

 appear in cultivations in which the black material was employed, which did not also 

 occur where rice-paste alone was employed, and that in no instance did any of the 

 fungoid elements of the black matter exhibit the faintest indication of any tendency to 

 germinate. On the contrary, one of the most remarkable features in connection with the 

 cultivation was the extremely persistent and seemingly inert nature of the material, 

 the masses being found to all appearance entirely unaltered in character and contents 

 after weeks of immersion in paste (and at all times of the year), in which the most 

 luxuriant development of fungi had occurred. 



Cultivation III. — Cultivation of the black matter in water. 



As the peculiar mould, characteristic of, and peculiar to, the diseased tissues, is 



* When the material had been preserved in spirit, etc., it was always carefully washed and immersed in 

 water for several days before being set in the paste. 



