187 
phytes merely living as scavengers on dead and decaying matter. 
Opini h 
time a vast number of fungi which ha rmerl con- 
side. armless are found under favorable conditions to be 
irulent parasites, ca immense amount of damage to 
c 
out method of sanitation - which the soil can be rid of these 
harmful organisms. 
attention of the writer has recently been called to a bed 
ats in our grounds in which about one third of the 
bie had De ues Eee oe oe of he leaves A vee 
plants, 
as is usual on dead plant tissues, did not reveal any particular 
species present in sufficient abundance to account for the death 
of the plants. 
1 examination of the soil about the bases of these 
r 
plants, however, showed the presenc fi s belonging to 
the genus Sclerotium, which had apparently attacked the plants 
through the medium he soil, causi se of the large 
‘urther search revealed the fa is fu 
restricted t e one host on which it was originally detected, 
b ttacked other plants ell, causing a large amount o 
nts as 
damage. A strictly parasitic fungus is often very selective in 
its habits. icting i ): tain speci to a numbe 
