1902] BINUCLEATE CELLS 1N HYMENOMYCETES 3 
processes in the basidium with those in the teleutospore and 
promycelium. The only marked difference is in the fact that 
the promycelium of the rusts is a septate basidium with lateral 
spores instead of a one-celled basidium with apical spores. 
Should Dangeard’s (2) claim that the vegetative cells of the 
so-called Protobasidiomycetes are binucleate be confirmed, a 
very complete parallelism would be demonstrated between the 
latter and the rusts of the Coleosporium type. Maire says little 
of the mycelia of the Basidiomycetes which he has studied. 
The mycelium of Coprinus radiatus, however, he says, has uni- 
nucleated cells; where the transition from the uninucleated to 
the binucleated condition occurs he does not say. 
Maire describes at some length the division of the nuclei in 
the basidia. The pairs of nuclei as they divide in the mycelium 
have each four chromosomes. The fusion nucleus in the 
basidium shows four chromosomes, both in its first and second 
divisions. The accuracy of these points can be better judged 
when the author publishes his figures. He also describes a 
peculiar and interesting behavior of centrosomes at the time of 
the formation of the sterigmata. The centrosomes lie at the 
points on the basidial wall where the sterigmata are to bud out. 
From these centers fibers differentiated out of the cytoplasm 
extend to each of the four nuclei which lie at the base of the 
basidium. Under the influence of these fibers the nuclei gradu- 
ally approach the vertex of the basidium. 
In the light of Maire’s observations it becomes probable that 
the observations of Strasburger (15), Rosenvinge (14), Istvanffi 
(8), and others, according to which the cells of the Basidiomy- 
cetes are regularly multinucleated, were based only on a study of 
the old vegetative cells of mature sporophores, whose multi- 
nucleated condition is secondary and developed in connection 
with their special enlargement as supporting cells for the vari- 
ously placed hymenium. Wager says very little as to the nuclei 
of the vegetative cells and does not describe the condition of 
the subhymenial cells, though he describes the hyphal nuclei 
as wandering into the young basidium in pairs (17). His 
