52 MIDLAND NATURALIST 
and filled with an abundance of yellowish, granular protoplasm. 
he mould was ofa very healthy appearance and luxuriant growth yet 
all attempts to germinate the discharged spores failed. The material 
was set to one side and no further attention given it until the first 
week in February when it was placed in a moist chamber where a 
scant growth of mould occurred. The sporangiophores were about 
0.5 cm. in height and appeared white to the naked eye. Under 
the microscope a faint orange tint was apparent. The spores were 
normal in size but very light in color. 
On the 15th the culture was reexamined to note the difference 
between the earlier and the later sporangia of the same growth. 
Only a few sporangia remained. Instead of the usual beautiful 
crystalline objects they had much the appearance of a large Asper- 
gillus. Under the microscope the majority of the sporangia 
appeared as distorted masses of spores without trace of the sporangial 
membrane or of the subsporangial swelling. A single specimen was 
still intact, yet the subsporangial swelling was convulsed by an 
internal disturbance so that its form was constantly changing. It 
soon burst, six small worms emerged, and the sporangium took upon 
itself, the same appearance as the others. The spores of these in- 
fested sporangia were only about 2-4 » in size, colorless and 
apparently empty. They also exhibited a decided tendency to 
arrange themselves in chains of one or two rows of spores—a 
characteristic which I have not noticed in the normal spores. After 
the mass of spores had been washed away the effect on the sporangio- 
phore was apparent. In escaping the worms broke the walls of the 
"subsporangial swelling in such a way as to prevent the discharge of 
the sporangium and to allow the swelling to collapse somew hat, 
leaving the apex of the sporangiophore club-shaped. 
e worms were minute, colorless, about 25-39 thick and 
600-8007 long. Under a high magnifying power the internal 
structure appeared rather distinctly and the organs could be traced 
with considerable satisfaction. "The worms are enclosed in a trans- 
parent, colorless perisarc from which the body is entirely free. 
Anteriorly the worm is blunt and rather rounded with a distinct 
gullet. Posteriorly the perisarc is produced isto a long tapering 
- point far beyond the pointed posterior extremity of the worm. In 
motion the perisarc is very pcc wrinkled but the body of 
- the worm has no such appeara 
In Coeman's * Moak du Genre Pilobolus (p. 49-52) ; 
we find an account of the sporangiophores of Pilolobus crystalinus 
- Mem. Cour. Acad. roy. Belg. XXX. 1861. | 
