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convenient object for investigation. During twentyfour hours its 

 mycelium, in pure culture on agar, grows so intensely, that it fills 

 up all the surface of the Petri-cup, which has 9 c/m. in diameter. 

 During this short period of time appear many large spiral coiled 

 ascogonia, and as in the species of Podospora, just described, there 

 is no antheridium. Nichol's and Gilkinet's indications of the pre- 

 sence of this organ, made us deal with this question especially 

 carefully, but all the investigated cultures of Sordaria presented 

 complete absence of formations, which could be considered as, 

 antheridia. Everywhere could be found only ascogonia, which later 

 Avere interlaced by hyphae and developed farther normally. The 

 results obtained in this case perfectly accord with Dangeard's sta- 

 tements. He denies here the development of antheridial cells. Pro- 

 bably Nichols and Gilkinet took for the antheridium one of the 

 first hyphae, which interlace the ascogonium. The latter in Sorda- 

 ria is the largest in comparison with the other, here described, 

 species. On the fig. 40 is shown a still free ascogonium. The for- 

 mation of the sheath of the perithecium, the development of the 

 ascogenous hyphae, which always rise in great quantity from se- 

 л^ега1 cells of the ascogonium, and the formation of the asci do 

 not present any distinct difference from the species of Podospora, 

 and the description of the same would only be the repetition of 

 what Avas formerly said. It is only worthy of note that the asco- 

 genous hyphae are here extraordinarly interwoven and tangled witli 

 each other, probably because of the small size of the fruit-bodies, 

 and therefore of its cavity, in comparison Avith Podospora. To follow 

 thus the course of ascogonial threads, even on a small portion of 

 it, is especially difficult. Generally one can see only small sections 

 of these threads in which one or two pairs of nuclei lie. 



The young ascogonia of Sordaria are multinucleate, though the 

 number of nuclei is not so large as in P. fimiseda. They are at 

 first disposed in the cells more or less equally (fig. 41). Soon their 

 number greatly increases. As in P. curvula, P. anserina, P. setosa 

 and in P. copropliila during the development of the peritheciumi 

 one meets often cells, in which the nuclei, always with sharply 

 outlined contours are arranged in pairs. This can be noticed in th& 

 first stages of development of the perithecium, when the sheath has 

 only 1—2 layers (fig. 42), as well as in later stages of the deve- 



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