THE SEXUALITY OP THE FUNGI. 27 



Cornu 1 and Pringsheim as to certain details in the manner of fecun- 

 dation of the oospheres of Saprolegnice. It, is sufficient to note that 

 in 1880, or thereabouts, the matter appeared to stand thus : While 

 the typical Saprolegnice possess oospheres in an oogonium, and anthe- 

 ridia as simple or branched structures which send " fertilising tubes " 

 through the walls of the oogonia as far as the oospheres, which they 

 appeared to fertilise ; there are others in which the oospheres develope 

 into fertile oospores without contact of the antheridia. 



If we now turn aside from the fungi referred to in the preceding 

 sketch, we find a vast number of forms comprehended under the 

 Ustilaginece, Uredinece (JEcidiomycetes), and the larger Basidiomycetes. 

 The parasitic Ustilaginece have received much attention since Tulasne 2 

 and De Bary 3 brought them together and led the way to a more 

 scientific knowledge of their nature. Much has been done since, and 

 much opinion has been expressed as to the signification of the cross 

 unions made by the " sporidia " developed from the promycelium of 

 the germinating spores 4 in some cases. We must regard the view as 

 to its supposed sexual character with grave suspicion. 



The Uredinece, apart from their interest as parasites on economic 

 and other plants, have absorbed much attention from the point of view 

 we are concerned with. It was natural to look for sexual organs in 

 them, especially after the successes met with elsewhere. Neverthe- 

 less, from Tulasne's 6 and De Bary's 6 earlier investigations, more than 

 thirty years ago, down to the present time, no one has succeeded in 

 demonstrating even a trace of any intelligible sexual process or organs. 

 This is the more remarkable since many of the JEeidiomycetes produce 

 no less than four forms of reproductive bodies. Moreover, the group 

 has been studied with extraordinary success, and our knowledge of 

 the nature of parasitism and heteroecism is largely if not chiefly due 

 to this success. The best views as to the reproduction of these fungi 

 held up to 1880 may be fairly stated thus. They form at most two 

 kinds of asexual spores ( Uredospores and Teleutospores) and JEcidia and 

 Spermogonia ; the latter were regarded as probably the bodies con- 

 cerned in sexual reproduction, the Spermatid emitted by the Spermo- 



1 'Ann. des Sc. Nat.,' ser. 5, t. xv, &e. 



s ' Ann. des Sc. Nat.,' ser. 3, t. vii, and ser. 4, t. ii. 



3 'Die Brandpilze,' 1853. 



1 Tulasne, op. cit. 



5 Op. cit. 



6 Op. cit. 



