ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY^ MICROSCOPY, ETC. 789 



and hypertrophy results. On the decay of the tubercles the germ-like 

 bodies pass iuto the soil (where they can always be found) and infect other 

 roots ; it is very probable they may be of extreme importance in agriculture. 



Phosphorescent Fungus,* — Abbe J. Dulac has observed two tufts of 

 Agaricus olearius very strongly phosphorescent, and was able to determine 

 that the fungi were parasitic on the routs of Poa pratensis. 



Mycelites ossifragus— a Fungus in Boncj — Prof. W. Ronx had his 

 attention directed to striations in sections of a rib of Bhytina stelleri. These 

 bands have parallel contours, and consist of a substance slightly more 

 refractive than the surrounding osseous tissue ; they became more obvious 

 after the section had been treated with 5 per cent, nitric acid; and after 

 treatment with iodine and sulphuric acid a blue coloration became apparent. 

 The author gives a detailed account of his observations and experiments, 

 and states that, on showing them to Prof. Hasse, the latter recognized the 

 bands as having been seen by him in fossil vertebra from various strata as 

 low as triassic deposits. 



On coming to the conclusion that he had to do with something not 

 belonging to the osseous tissue itself, the animal kingdom was first thought 

 of, but every suggestion was found to lead to difficulties ; the Leptofhrix 

 huccalis and its influence in producing caries of the teeth was so far a 

 happier sUi,'gestion, that it led to the vegetable kiugdom being proposed 

 for study ; the canals in the bone agreed in thickness, form, and mode of 

 branching with the lower plants ; and fungi present, in their mycelial 

 filaments, thick plexuses like those found in the bone ; fungi are also known 

 to force their hyphee into organic substances. As the fungi are classified 

 by the characters of their sporangia, attention was given to the special 

 rounded structures in the bone which were seen to have the form, some of 

 unripe, and some of ripe spores of the Phycomycetes ; going further, they 

 appear to present a resemblance to Saprolegnia ; waiting for further dis- 

 coveries to settle this question more definitely, the growth may be called 

 Mycelites ossifragus. 



Brief reference is made to the canals in the shells of Lamellibranchs 

 and Gastropods, which Wedl supposed to be due to algae, but KoUiker 

 (who extended the observation to a number of other forms) to fungi ; and to 

 the observations of Duncan and Moseley on Acldya. 



Peronospora umbelliferarum on the Vine.| — By repeated experiments, 

 Sig. P. Pichi has been able to obtain on the lower surface of leaves of the 

 vine, infection from zoosporanges of this fungus obtained from JEgopodium 

 Podagraria. 



Propagation of Peronospora viticola by means of Oospores. §— M. E. 

 Prillieux has attempted, together with M. Frechou, to germinate the oospores 

 of this Peronospora, and has found them generally emit well- developed 

 tubes. Sometimes one of these tubes becomes directly fructiferous and 

 bears conidia. 



M. d'Arbois of Jubainville examined the leaves of the vine on the first 

 appearance of conidiferous filaments, and noticed small brown spots which 

 corresponded to the points where, on the other side, small i)articles of 

 earth adhered. T.iese spots gradually increased in size, and at the end of 

 a month produced the fructification of Peronospora. 



* Rev. Mycol., ix. (1SS7) pp. 12-B. 



t Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool., xlv. (1887) pp. 227-54 (1 pi.). 



X Atti Soc. Tosc. Sci. Nat., v. (1887) pp. 258-9. 



§ Bull. Soc. But. France, xxxiv. (1887) pp. 85-7. 



