THE MOSSES, FUNGI, AND LICHENS. 311 



the white powdered leaf will be seen io have a 

 number oi' minute dots scattered over it. These are 

 the fruit receptacles of the light, and if one be 

 placed under the microscope, and viewed with a one- 

 inch objective, it will turn out a very pretty object 

 indeed. When one of these receptacles is taken up, 

 and viewed with a higher microscopic power, a great 

 number of pear-shaped bags, termed asci, each 

 holding eight spores, are visible. These are the 

 fruit of the blight, which is called uncinula on 

 account of the hooked appendages. The above 

 figure of one of the receptacles is given as seen 

 under a half- inch objective. The spores and hooks 

 are seen below the receptacle. Should your walk 

 be in the spring and early summer months, you will 

 perhaps have noticed the dead stems of herbaceous 

 plants and the small twigs of trees to be covered 

 with little black pustules, not bigger, if so big, as a 

 pin's head. These are minute fungi, belonging to 

 a group called Sphseriacei. The little black spots 

 are perhaps covered by a skin, or epidermis, which 

 later in the season will be thrown off. The pustule 

 is nearly spherical, flattened at the base, however, 

 and having at its apex a teat-like projection (a). 

 The centre of this becomes perforated, and out of 

 the perforation the inner contents of the fungus will 

 escape. If a section of the pustule be made, the 

 interior will be found occupied by a minute drop of 

 jelly, which should be taken out with a needle and 

 placed in a drop of water on a glass-slide, if you wish 



