and some other Grasses. 461 



The size of the reproductive bodies is excessively minute, being not more 

 on the average than the T-trs-oth part of an inch long, and the -sVo-o-th part of 

 an inch in diameter ; some few however being much smaller^ and others lar- 

 ger than these dimensions. 



Their number on one ergot, perhaps, is more astonishing than their mi- 

 nuteness ; for by immersing in water a full-sized specimen from the Elymus 

 when copiously covered, and making use of means for detaching them, a film 

 was obtained which thickly covered more than a square inch of surface ; con- 

 sequently from a rough calculation there could not be many less than twenty 

 millions of sporidia on this specimen, supposing the film was only one layer in 

 thickness. 



When these minute bodies are moistened with water and magnified about 

 500 to 600 times linear, their structure becomes just discernible, and there 

 can be observed in their interior a rounded nucleus or granule, or sometimes 

 two or three such, which are of a greenish colour*; veiy seldom it is that 

 there are more than three ; and occasionally sporidia will be found that do 

 not contain any granules : all of which varieties are mentioned and accurately 

 figured by Phcebus in his account of these bodies, and their dissimilarity as 

 well as their containing small corpuscules caused him to doubt their being 

 fungic sporidia. 



The size of these granules was generally about one eighth or one tenth that 

 of the body containing them, and may be calculated to be about Trwo^h 

 part of an inch in diameter. 



Having kept some sporidia on a moistened glass, evident proofs were seen 

 in a short time of incipient germination ; and Philippar mentions, that when 

 he moistened cloth and strewed sporidia upon it, they presented the appear- 

 ance of having germinated : to examine this fact more perfectly, some of these 

 bodies were placed on a slip of glass, moistened with distilled water, and co- 

 vered with a thin plate of mica, and it was found itnmediately that a move- 

 ment existed among them, such I considered as was discovered by Mr. Brown 

 to exist amongst all fine particles, whether organic or inorganic, when placed 

 so as to have free motion in water ; the sporidia under observation never 



* The green colour is owing to the minute body decomposing the light. 



