172 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 474. 



The numerous forms of spores among the 

 UredinesB are shown to belong to two 

 classes, the teleutospores, which are doubt- 

 less of a sexual character, and conidia, the 

 latter being either tecidia or uredo. These 

 follow in an invariable order. The sper- 

 mogonium always appears in the life cycle 

 as the first fruiting structure. If the first 

 subsequent spore structure is the uredo, 

 there is no a=!cidiiim in the cycle ; if it is 

 in the teleutospore, there is neither scid- 

 ium nor uredo. The presence and associa- 

 tion of the spermogonia, therefore, furnish 

 important information regarding the ex- 

 tent of the life cycle. The, characters 

 drawn from form, size and origin of the 

 spermogonia furnish minor characters. 

 The spermogonia, as well as any or all of 

 the conidia, may be suppressed in certain 

 species. 



Proof of the Identity of Phoma and Phyl- 

 losticta on the Sugar Beet: George G. 

 Hedgcock. 



This paper gives the results of a cul- 

 tural study of Phoma hetce and Phyllos- 

 ticta tahifica in which two fungi are shown 

 to be identical, both causing a similar rot 

 of the root of the sugar beet, and pro- 

 ducing upon inoculation upon the leaves 

 the typical Phyllosticta leaf spots. The 

 cultural characters of the two fungi are 

 identical. 



Craterellus taxophilus, A Neiu Species of 



Thelephoracece : C. Thom. 



A delicate fleshy Craterellus found at 

 Ithaca, N. Y., is described and figured as 

 new. Photographs, specimens and draw- 

 ings of structure are presented, and show 

 it to differ from previously described spe- 

 cies. Its association with Taxus, which 

 seems very close, is made the basis of the 

 specific name. The technical description 

 of the species as Craterellus taxophilus is 

 added. 



The Fungi Cultivated by Texas Ants: A. 



M. Ferguson. 



The fungi found in the so-called 'mush- 

 room gardens ' of certain fungus-eating ants 

 occurring in central and southern Texas 

 {Atta fervens Say, A. septentrionalis Mc- 

 Cook, A. turrifex Wheeler and Atta n. sp. 

 Wheeler) consist of a white slow-grow- 

 ing mycelium . with characteristic clusters 

 of terminal swellings, the ' Kohlrabihauf- 

 chen' of Moller, Avhich are eaten by the 

 ants. While no kind of spore formation 

 was found, it is probably the same as the 

 form described by Moller from the gardens 

 of Brazilian Attas. The fungus grows 

 slowly in culture, but was often more vig- 

 orous than in the garden under the control 

 of the ants. The formation of the charac- 

 teristic swellings seemed to be governed by 

 local conditions (probably controlled in 

 the garden by the ants), for in cultures, on 

 beans, for example, they would be formed 

 in abundance in some tubes and not at all 

 in others. Efforts to feed one species Avith 

 the fungus grown in the garden of 

 another, or from cultures, gave erratic re- 

 siilts, rarely succeeding, and then only 

 after prolonged starving. Some observa- 

 tions of Moller bearing on the systematic 

 position of the fungus were unconfirmed. 

 A Dematium-\ike fungus proved to be the 

 organism cultivated in the nests of Cypho- 

 myrmex rimosus. This ant was sup- 

 posedly carnivorous until its fungus-feed- 

 ing habit was observed by Dr. W. M. 

 Wheeler. In this case caterpillar pellets 

 are used exclusively by the ants for a me- 

 dium upon which to grow the fungus. 



Symbiosis in LoUum: B. M. Freeman. 



In a previous paper I have described the 

 unique year-cycle of the fungus symbiont 

 of Lolium temulentum and other species 

 of Lolium. Further experiments support 

 the theory that the fungus does not form 

 spores. There are two races each, of L. 



