TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION K. 1049 



Dubois' showed thsit penicillim)!, or a closely-allied form, not only lives in 

 strong solutions of copper, neutralised with ammonia, but will erode metallic 

 copper and bronze if transplanted thereon. 



lonssen " found penicillhnn living in one-tenth normal sulphuric acid solution, 

 and gives some interesting facts regarding the sulphur-containing oil-drops in its 

 protoplasm, and other statements concerning oil in this fungus occur in the works 

 of De Bary, Brefeld, Pfeifer, &c. 



Gerard ^ gives proof that penicillium can liberate butyric acid from mono- 

 butyrine, and evidence that this is due to its power of forming a lipase or fat- 

 splitting enzyme. 



Lesage* gives striking instances of the resistance to external influences showni 

 by the spores on germination. Nob only will they germinate and live for some 

 time in water, and under almost anaerobic conditions, but he found them germi- 

 nating in 26 5 per cent, solutions of common salt ; 30 per cent, solutions were too 

 much for them, however. He states also that the vapour of cedar-oil, iodoform, 

 napthalin, camphor, and patchouli do not prevent germination ; though that of 

 clove-oil, ether, alcohol, chloroform, and acetic acid prevent it. The maximum 

 for alcohol was somewhere between 4*2 and 6'2 per cent. In acetic acid they 

 germinated in twenty-four days in solutions of 1 : 256, but failed to do so in 

 solutions of 1 : 64, whereas in HCl they germinated in two days in 1 : 4 solutions. 



As regards temperatures, it is well known how resistant the spores are ; a 

 striking instance of the hardships the mycelium can undergo is given by Woronin.'* 

 lie found penicillium vegetating on the melting snow, where the temperature at 

 night fell below 0° C. 



Bourqueot ° found Invertase, Maltase, Trehalase, Emulsiu, Inulase, Diastase, 

 and Trypsin in the allied asperyillus, and pointed out how suggestive this is m 

 explaining the ubiquity of this mould. Vioho-hlj penicillium is equally rich in 

 capacity for enzyme-production. 



Miyoshi' showed ih&t penicilliion can bore through cellulose membranes, and 

 no doubt similar chemotactic phenomena are concerned in the piercing of wood- 

 elements by the hyphaj. 



It certainly looks as ii pemcillium may be a much more active organism in 

 initiating and carrying on the destruction of wood than has hitherto been sup- 

 posed, and that it is not merely a hanger-on or follower of more powerful wood- 

 destroying fungi. It is also, doubtless, very independent of antiseptics. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. 

 The following Papers were read : — 



1 . On a Fine Specimen of the Halonial branch of a Lepidodendron allied 

 to L. fuliginosum ( Will). By D. H. Scott, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. 



This specimen (of which a photograph is exhibited) was recently discovered by 

 Mr. Lomax at the Hough Hill Colliery. It is of large size, with the structure 

 perfectly preserved, and bears two series of Halonial tubercles. The main stem 

 resembles that of Lepidodendron fuliginosuvi, though not absolutely identical. 

 Each tubercle has its own vascular cylinder, surrounded by leaf-trace bundles, 

 and evidently represents a branch, which probably constituted the peduncle of a 

 strobilus. 



' Covip. Rend., 1890, cxi., p. 655. 



2 Bot. CentT., xxxvii., 1889, p. 201. 



3 Bull, dc la Soc. jSIycol. de Ft., xiii., 1897, p. 182. 

 *■ Ann. des Sc. Nat., Ser. 8, T. 1, 1895, p. 309. 



^ Arb. d. St. Petersh. A'aturf. Ver., B. xx., p. 31. 

 « Bull. Soe. Mycol., 1893, p. 231. 

 ' But. Zcit., 1891, H. 1. 



