324 Transactions of the Society. 



nutrient surface, though theu' extremities were colourless. These 

 growths constituted very interesting objects. 



Various plasmas were impregnated with the mould, the results 

 obtained being detailed below. 



Crushed malt worked with water Ut • -i-ce . i-i 



into a stiff paste [Very mdifferent growth. 



Slices of cooked turnip and potato . . Fairly well ; invasion 



of other moulds. 



„ raw turnip and potato . . Hardly any growth. 



„ melon Very indifferently. 



Cooked meat „ 



Eaw meat Hardly any growth. 



For the following microscopical observations the mould under 

 consideration was cultivated on crushed germinating barley, the best 

 growths being obtained with this form of nourishment. The tufts 

 of mould, which formed in about ten days from the time of sowing, 

 consisted of a mass of hyphae, indistinguishable as such from 

 those of many other moulds. These hyphae gradually become 

 interlaced, and in two or three weeks' time, owing to their increasing 

 weight, begin to droop and the tuft flattens down ; just at this 

 time a kind of sporulation was observed (fig. 2). 



I would here make a few remarks as to the method employed 

 for the collection and treatment of small portions of the mould- 

 growths for microscopical observation, as some difficulty was at first 

 experienced in removing portions from the growing mass, owing to 

 the tendency the hyph^e have to adhere persistently to each 

 other when disturbed. After examining the growth with a low 

 power (55 diameters), small glass hairs rounded at the ends in a 

 Bunsen flame were used to detach portions for examination under 

 the higher power (300 diameters). A drop of dilute alcohol was 

 allowed to fall upon them from a small pipette, a cover-glass being 

 gently pressed on. Dilute alcohol is preferable to water for general 

 use, for the portion of mould under treatment has less tendency to 

 alter its existing contour on immersion in the former than in the 

 latter. 



To revert again to the sporulation shown in fig. 2, I spoke of 

 this purposely as a kind of sporulation, for as two more methods 

 of sporulation were observed of a true character, and seeing that in 

 no case was the regeneration of the mould perceived from the bodies 

 depicted as escaping from the hyphae, I have been led to regard 

 this as an abortive sporulation, and the minute bodies as pseudo- 

 spores. 



Up to this point no crescent-shaped bodies were noticed in any 

 of the cultures, despite the extensive production of colouring matter 

 similar to that on the red corns. 



