lOOG SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



usually not to be seen until the cell-mcmbranc is fully developed. When 

 first formed they nre exceedingly minute ; they then gradually increase 

 in size, and it is only when they have attained a considerable size that 

 prisms of jelly are excreted through them. In some species the newly- 

 formed shells of the mature individuals which result from division are 

 partially or entirely thrown off and replaced by new shells ; and these 

 temporary shells are then destitute of pores. 



Fungi. 



"Spermatia" of the Ascomycetes.* — Herr A. INIdller adduces fur- 

 ther arguments against the hyi^otlicsis that these organs have sexual 

 functions. The " spermatia " of Collcma micropliijllum, after lying for 

 one month in a nutrient solution, begin to show signs of germination ; 

 in the course of the second or third month they put out protuberances 

 in twt) or three directions ; and in the fourth month a branched tube 

 has made its appearance. In no single case lias the union of a " sperma- 

 tium " with a trichogyne been demonstrated ; in addition to the impro- 

 bability that so minute a body could transmit its fertilizing power 

 through a row of twenty-four cells. The argument drawn from the 

 swarm-cells of the Ectocarpefe — that bodies which have sexual functions 

 can still germinate directly when the opportunity of exercising that 

 function is wanting — he dismisses on the ground of tlie very distant 

 relationship between the Ectocarpcse and the Ascomycetes. 



Basidiomycetes.t — The last published part of Cohn's ' Cryptogamic 

 Flora of Silesia,' compiled by Dr. J. Schroter, treats of Tremellinei, 

 comprising the genera Sebachm, Exidia, Ulocolla, Craterocolla, Tremella, 

 Tremellodon, and the new genus Tulasnella, with the following diagnosis : 

 — On globular basidia, similar to those of Tremella, but undivided, are 

 formed thick ovate sterigmata resembling large spores or the partial 

 basidia of the Tremellinei, which lengthen, and bear spores at their 

 shai'p-pointcd ends. It is intermediate between Sehacina and Thelephora, 

 but its position among the Tremellinei is doubtful. 



Then follows an account of the Dacryomyces, comprising the genera 

 Dacryomyces, Gucpinia, Calocera, Dacryomitra, and doubtfully Ditiola, 

 with insufficiently known basidia, and the Hymenomycetes, which are 

 arranged under eight families: — Exobasidiacei, Hypochnacei, Thelepho- 

 racei, Clavariacei, Hydnacei, Polyporacei, Cantharellacei, and Agaricacei. 

 The following new genera belonging to the Hymenomycetes are de- 

 scribed : — Hypnochella, Aleurodiscus, Clavulina, Pheeodon, Amaurodon, 

 Ochroporus, Phseoporus, and Dsedaleopsis, as well as a number of new 

 species. 



Heterobasidial Basidiomycetes.:}: — M. J. Costantin criticizes the 

 publication of MM. Brcfeld, Istvanffi, and Johan-Olsen § on the Proto- 

 basidiomycetes, especially on some points of classification and nomen- 

 clature ; and gives himself a review of the conidial filamentous forms 

 described in Brefeld's work, comparing them with the known genera of 

 Mucedineae. 



* Bot. Ztg., xlvi. (1888) pp. 421-5. Cf. tliis Journal, ante, p. 46G. 

 t ' Kiyptogamen-Flora v. Schlesien,' Bd. iii. Lief. 4, Breslau, 1888. See Hcdwigia, 

 sxvii. (1888) p. 213. Cf. this Journal, ante, p. 7!*. 

 X Morot's Joum. de Bot., ii. (1888) pp. 229-3i. 

 § Cf. this Journal, ante, p. 778. 



