ZOOLOGY AND BOX ANT, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 1005 



belonging to the Aiirantiaceas. Of the Melanconias very few species are 

 moricolous, and none of these are Italian. 



Fungi parasitic on the Savin. Larch, and Aspen.* — Herr E. Hartig 

 identifies Cieoma ^jinitorquum, parasitic on the savin, with C. Laricis, parasitic 

 on the larch, and has established that both these species are represented by 

 the teleutospore-form Jlelarnpsora Tremulse, which hibernates on the aspen. 



Colocasia Disease.! — The edible tubers of Colocasia esculenta are, in 

 Jamaica, subject to a disease which Mr. G. Ma?see finds to be caused by 

 the attacks of a hitherto undescribed fungus Peronospora trichotorna. It 

 appears in the form of yellow spots corresponding to the vascular bundles, 

 which are always first attacked, the mycelium spreading through the entire 

 substance of the tuber along the cavities of the tracheids, from which it 

 passes to the adjoining parenchyma. Two forms of reproductive bodies, 

 conidia and resting-spores, have been met with ; the former are produced 

 only on hyphfe exposed to the air ; the latter on threads in the substance 

 of the tuber ; the conidiophores form a delicate white bloom on the surface 

 of the diseased tubers. The Peronospora is undoubtedly the cause of the 

 disease, but is accompanied by two other fungi, Heterosjjoriura Colocasise 

 n. sp. and Cephalosjjorium acremonium, parasitic on the preceding. 



New Disease in Vines.i— MM. L. Scribner and P. Viala describe 

 a new fungus, Greeneria fuliginea, parasitic on vines. It has made its 

 appearance in vineyards in the United States of America, and is found to 

 attack the fruit just before it reaches maturity. A coloration is noticed 

 which is rose-coloured in the white varieties of fruit, and reddish-brown 

 in the dark varieties ; this extends by concentric zones. The mycelium, 

 which is very abundant in the berry, is whitish, and much branched and 

 septated. The only reproductive bodies observed by the authors are 

 peculiar ; their structure is intermediate between the pycnidia and conidio- 

 phores. On account of the colour of the spores this fungus belongs to the 

 Phteosporese. 



Tnbercnlar Swellings on the Roots of Vicia Faba.§ — Prof. H. Mar- 

 shall "Ward comes to the conclusion that the tubercles on the roots of 

 Vicia Fdba always contain a fungus, allied to the Ustilagineas, which enters 

 the root by the root-hairs. The ultimate branches of the hyph£e in the 

 cells of the tubercle bud off gemmules, which are afterwards scattered in the 

 soil. This process resembles the budding discovered by Brefeld in the 

 Ustilagineae. By means of cultures and observations the author found 

 that the infection from the soil is j)robably due to these minute gemmules 

 acting as spores. 



Cohn"s Cryptogamic Flora of Silesia (Fungi).]! — In the second part of 

 Herr J. Schrceter's account of the fungi of Silesia, contributed to this work, 

 we find the conclusion of the description of the Myxogastres. 



The Schizomycetes he divides into Coccobacteria, Eubacteria, and Des- 

 mobacteria. Under Micrococcus he describes a new species (JT. sordidus), 

 and two under Streptococcus (S. lacteus and >S'. raargaritaceus). From Fried- 

 lander's Pneurnoniecoccus is founded the new genus Hyalococcus, with globular 



* SB. Gesell. Morphol. n. Physiol. Miinchen, 1887, pp. 43-4. See Bull. Soc. Bot. 

 France, xsxiv. (18S7) Kev. Bibl., d. /6. 



t Journ. Linn. Soc. Load. — Bot., xxiv. (1SS7) pp. 45-9 (1 pi. and 2 figs.). 



X Comptes Rendus, cv. (18S7) pp. 473-4. 



§ Proc. Eoy Soc. Lond., xlii. (1887) p. 356. 



II Cohn, F., ' Kryptogamen -Flora v. Schlesien,' Bd. iii. Pilze ; bearbeitet v. J. 

 Schroeter. Lief. 2 ; Breslau, 188t). 



1887. 3 U 



