Miscellaneous. 369 



ooiiDCxioii with the wall, they at last attach themselves to it by 

 virtue of cntrifugal development, and finally unite with it by their 

 jjeripheral extremity, while by the o])posite extremity they con- 

 verfj;e towards the centre of the cyst. They are formed by a struc- 

 tureless membrane, and originate in the midst, and doubtless also at 

 the expense of an accumulation of f^ranules which surround them for 

 some time even after their complete formation, representing a sort 

 of muff lound each of them. 



Each of these tubes, which I have caUed sporoducts, presents, in 

 a state of complete individualization, a short, broad basal joint, by 

 which it is inserted upon the internal surface of the wall of the 

 cyst, and a slender terminal longer or shorter joint, of which the 

 extremity corresponds to the centre of the cyst. 



At maturity the sporoducts may be seen to disengage themselves 

 with extreme rapidity, and to erect themselves outwards to their 

 full length. In case any obstacle obstructs the phenomena of their 

 erection, we may easily trace its mechanism. We may then see the 

 sporoduct free itself gradually by a true evagination, the basal joint 

 appearing first of all, and the extremity of the tube last, after 

 having traversed all the portion already emitted. This mechanism 

 can oidy be the effect of an augmentation of pressure of the contents 

 of the cyst, doubtless correlative to a change of its mean density 

 under the influence of the remarkable modifications that these con- 

 tents undergo in the course of sporulation ; and the same cause 

 would also direct the expulsion of the spores through the sporoducts. 



The genus StyJorhynchv^ [S. oblom/atus, Hamm., from Opatrum 

 sabulosum) presents perhaps yet more interesting phenomena. The 

 cyst , which is produced by sohtary encystraent, presents at first uni- 

 form contents, which are afterwards divided into two equal masses 

 by an equatorial plane. At the same time that the traces of this 

 first division are effaced and the granular portion of the contents 

 becomes condensed, a great number of very shallow secondary fur- 

 rows appear, which subdivide the outer coat of the granular contents 

 into lobes and lobules. From the surface of these lobes and lobules 

 one now sees the nascent spores bud. At first they are completely 

 homogeneous and transparent, but afterwards acquire some granules 

 before their complete individualization and separation from the 

 lobules. 



"When free from all adherence to these, the sporigenous masses 

 are situated on the surface of a voluminous central mass formed by 

 the remains of the not utilized portion of the original contents. 

 Then, quitting the regularly spherical form, each sporigenous mass 

 elongates in the direction of a radius of the cyst, and all together, in 

 the form of little fusiform bacilli, tapering at the ends and relatively 

 very much swollen in the middle, execute, during from fifteen to 

 eighteen hours, an interrupted series of rapid and energetic move- 

 ments, by which their peripheral extremity inflects itself first in one 

 direction and then in another, at the same time that the corpuscle 

 shortens and lengthens itself, and the granules which it encloses are 

 agitated in its interior in all directions. The movement of each 

 corpuscle is independent of that of its neighbour ; and those which 



