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1902] BINUCLEATE CELLS IN HYMENOMYCETES 15 
are seen to be almost circular, and of extremely variable 
size. The entire cross-section of the stipe shows it to be made 
up of large cells, with very much smaller cells intermingled with - 
them. The center of the stipe in these species is hollow, and 
the hollow space is bounded by a layer of these smaller cells. 
A longitudinal section of the stipe shows that the cells shown in 
fig. 12 are immensely elongated and quite regularly parallel, 
and in turn are combined end to end to form parallel hyphae. 
These sections show also that the cells contain very numerous 
nuclei, the number varying with their size. In very young carpo- 
phores the cells are quite rich in protoplasmic content, the pro- 
toplasm being largely aggregated in a central column running 
the length of the cell, in which most of the nuclei lie. As the 
cells elongate with the growth of the carpophore, they become 
proportionally poorer in content, and the nuclei are distributed 
more evenly. 
The tissue of the pileus is also seen to be made up of large 
multinucleate cells. Fig. 73 represents a group of cells from the 
peripheral region of the pileus, and shows four cells prolonged 
into blunt, spine-like processes, which project outward from the 
upper surface of the cap. The whole surface of the cap is covered 
with similar spines in this species. Between these spine-cells 
are the columnar outer cells of the pileus, forming a sort of epi- 
dermis, and beneath these again are mingled large and small 
cells. All of these different types of cells are multinucleate, but 
are not as large and do not contain as numerous nuclei as the 
stipe cells. They are also relatively poor in protoplasm, and 
contain a single large central vacuole, or numerous smaller ones. 
It is doubtless the study of these cells of the vegetative part 
of the carpophore that has led to the conclusion of Strasburger, 
Wager, and others, that the vegetative bodies of the Basidiomy- 
cetes contain typically many nuclei. If we study the cells which 
are forming the gills of a carpophore of Coprinus, however, an 
entirely different condition of things is found. The gills origi- 
nate as plates on the inner surface of the pileus as soon as it is 
differentiated around the upper end of thestipe. The separation 
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