44 



CHAPTER VI. 



STRUCTURE OP FUNGI. 



Fungi, with very few exceptions, consist entirely of cells. In 

 about three genera alone is there anything at all resembling 

 the true vessels of flowering plants. These cells appear under 

 a variety of forms, from that of regular globules, to thin cy- 

 lindrical threads. In some cases, as in certain species of 

 Bolnjtis^ (Plate 1, fig. 7), the whole plant consists of a single 

 branched cell, without any dissepiments, exactly as in some 

 of the scumlike green plants which float upon our stagnant 

 pools.t These cells generally contain a granular mass, but 

 in many Fungi the contents of certain privileged sacs are 

 transformed into bodies of various forms, capable of repro- 

 ducing the species, called Sporidia (Plate 1, fig. 2 b), while 

 in others distinct cells arc formed at the tips of certain 



* These species, which grow on Uving leaves, are now commonly referred to 

 the genus Feronospora. They doubtless form a distinct group, but if these be 

 separated, the genus Botrytis will )io longer exist, for the others will pass to 

 Verticillium, Polyactis, and other genera. Nothing can be more absurd than 

 to break up a genus, and discard the oiiginal title altogether. Miclieli's Botrjtis 

 is evidently the same with Poli/actis, and as that genus is now almost univer- 

 sally adopted, the name Botrytis ought to be reserved for Botrytis parasitica 

 and its allies, as that species was the first wlii(rh received the generic name after 

 the tune of Micheh. 



t As in the genus Vaucheria. 



