THE SEXUALITY OF THE FUNGI- 41 



appear as knots of hyphse, which become hollow and abstrict the 

 spermatia. 



The young perithecia now arise as small clumps of fine hyphse, 

 which soon form a sub-globular mass, and in the interior of which a 

 spirally-coiled group of cells represents the Ascogonium, and reminds 

 the observer of the ascogonium of the Collemacece. 1 This body is 

 somewhat irregular, not evidently attached to a particular part of the 

 mass enveloping it, and it slowly grows as the surrounding perithecium 

 cells multiply. 



One end of the spiral grows out straight, passes through a stoma, 

 and is clearly of the nature of a " trichogyne." This was frequently 

 seen, and is figured several times. Though spermatia were seen to 

 adhere firmly to the end of the trichogyne, the author could not con- 

 vince himself that fertilisation took place. 



It requires tAvo or three months to complete these processes and the 

 formation of the ripe perithecia. Meanwhile, the trichogyne begins to 

 be disorganised from its free apex inwards. This was confirmed in 

 both the species examined, and the author thinks it is a more pro- 

 nounced degeneration than the change induced in the trichogyne of 

 Collema on fertilisation. 



The paraphyses now bud from the base of the perithecium — not 

 from the ascogonium — and soon fill up the space formerly occupied by 

 the dense tissue surrounding the coiled portion of the Ascogonium: 

 This tissue meanwhile becomes resorbed, and the few remaining basal 

 cells of the ascogonium — the trichogyne and upper part have dis- 

 appeared — give rise to asci by budding. All the stages of develop- 

 ment are clearly described. 



With Xylaria polymorpha Fisch was able to clear up the points 

 left undecided by De Bary 2 and Fuisting. 3 The young perithecia 

 arise in the dense stroma as clumps of interwoven hyphse, in the midst 

 of which a mass of paler cell-rows arises, which are coiled and inter- 

 woven into a core or " nucleus." These are the " Woronin's hyphse " 

 of Fuisting. While these are developing, the outer walls of the perithe- 

 cium become differentiated. The " Woronin's hyphse" now break up, 

 first into pieces of one or two cells, and then into a disorganised mass, 

 which soon becomes gelatinous and amorphous. 



1 Stab], op. cit. 



- 'Morpli. undPliys.,' pp. 97—99. 



8 'Bot. Zeit.,' 1867, pp. 303—310, 



