36 H. MARSHALL WARD. 



the two cases — secidia and perithecia present many points of agree- 

 ment, while the "spermogonia and spermatia of both groups are quite 

 alike. It cannot be overlooked, however, that the peculiar develop- 

 ment of the eecidiospores affects the question of this alliance. De 

 Bary does not even allude to the similarity between these and the 

 " conidia " of Cystopus ; and it is of course obvious that the asexually- 

 produced spores of the latter are rather to be regarded as homologous 

 with one of the conidial forms of the Mcidiomycetes ; for if the secidiuro. 

 fruit is homologous with the perithecium of Podosphcera, its further 

 homologies are with the oogonium, &c, of Cystopus. It has been 

 suggested, however, that a solution of these difficulties should be 

 sought in the direction hinted at here. 



De Bary thus considers the jEcidiomycetes as a group allied to the 

 Ascomycetes genetically, though we have not sufficient knowledge as 

 yet to enable us to place them at any particular spot in the scheme 

 of that series. The Tremellini are Basidiomycetes, with basidiospores 

 so suggestive of the teleutospores of Uredinece that De Bary does not 

 hesitate to place them as derived — with considerable reduction and 

 simplification — from those of Uredinece which possess no secidia (e. g. 

 Chrysomyxa). This is regarded as no more extraordinary than the 

 peculiar simplification of phanerogamous water-plants, &c, or of 

 Saccharomycetes, if they are reduced Ascomycetes. The Tremellini 

 would then lead us to the Ilymenomycetes and Gastromycetes, though it 

 is by no means clear how this came about. We are here plunged into 

 the greatest difficulties, because the development and life-history of 

 these groups are so little known ; and we may thus leave the discussion 

 of their phylogeny for the present. It must suffice to add that De 

 Bary believes it possible that the Tremellini having arisen by degene- 

 ration of uredinous forms, the other Basidiomycetes developed anew 

 progressively as forms adapted to special modes of life. 



The annexed scheme sums up the whole of the preceding. 



