76 Miscellaneous. 



require to form galleries undergo the greatest abbreviation of the legs, 

 which must have been influenced especially by the comparative dis- 

 use of those organs. 



The female of D. fossor lives at the extremity of a straight gallery, 

 which it completely fills. Under such conditions its short, strong 

 legs are very useful to it in pi'ogressing after the fashion of a mole, 

 by pressing obliquely against the walls of the gallery, so as to push 

 the animal forward. Outside the gallery these legs could be of no 

 use to it. The young females and the males, on the contraiy, can 

 move in galleries which are as it were too large for them. 



The rectilinear direction and the small size of the galleries is ex- 

 plained by the hardness of the horny substance of the beak m which 

 they are pierced, which causes the animals to confine themselves to 

 a straight passage, having exactly the calibre of their bodies. In 

 the Mammalia, the epidermis of which forms a less resistant tissue, 

 the passages are tortuous, increase gradually in depth, and offer more 

 space to the mites than is afforded to the parasite of the bird's beak. 

 — Zeitschr. fur ivissenschaftl. Zoologie, vol. xxiii. pp. 228-253 ; 

 Bibl. Univ. July 15, 1873, Bull. Sci. pp. 244-247. 



Contributions to the Knowledge of the Laboulbeniae. 

 By Dr. J. Peyritsch. 



The author describes the mode of occuiTence and the development 

 of these parasitic fungi. Hitherto only five species of Lahoulbenicn 

 were known, three of which were observed on beetles. New species 

 have been detected on Carabidae, Staphylinidse, and Dytiscidoe. By 

 their development, and especially the process* of fecundation, the 

 Laboulbenice approach the other Ascomycetes ; fecundation takes 

 place by the contact of delicate, filiform organs, pollinodia and 

 trichogynse. The pollinodia are developed at the terminal part of 

 the young plant upon pecuKar bearers, the form of which is charac- 

 teristic of the species ; the trichogyne terminates the rudiment of 

 the fruit. In some species the latter is a delicate filament of several 

 joints; but in Laboulhenia muscce it is unicellular; in all species it is 

 thrown off after fecundation. The fruit is only developed after 

 fecundation ; it opens by an apical pore and allows the spores to 

 escape. The spores are produced in diverticula of one (or several?) 

 cell in a series of cells, the upper extremity of Avliich previously 

 formed the trichogyne. The form and insertion of the bearer of the 

 pollinodia and its appendicular structures, and the form of the 

 armature of the mouth of the fruit, furnish the most important 

 characters for distinguishing the species of this small group of fungi. 

 Dr. Peyritsch's memoir contains descriptions of all the species, which 

 are referred to five genera, — Anzeiger der Akad. der Wiss. in Wien, 

 October 23, 1873. 



