ON CERTAIN STRUCTURES IN PHYLLACTINIA. 451 
nourished in a disorganised mass of these, must be dismissed as 
wholly fane 
To sho i “the still unsettled state of opinion on the subject, 
it may be mentioned that quite recently (1898) Magnus (16) has 
recorded ‘* Naegelia penicillata”” as a parasite occurring on Phyllac- 
tinia in the Tirol. 
Let us turn to the fungus itself. If we examine a leaf, e.g. of 
Corylus, crowded with ripe perithecia, we shall find that many of 
these agree with the figure of the ripe perithecium given by Tulasne 
lc, tab. 1, f. 2, left hand, top corner), 7. e. they are loose among 
the hairs of the leaf, and are standing on the points of their ares: 
by 
Tulasne and all authors to be normal; consequently the Sppendages 
have been described as becoming strongly reflexed, and raising up 
the  sigrrmges um. 
e summit of the perithecium, in this position, Tulasne 
shaied the swelling ——. of the mass of branched cells, and, 
to show that the summit is the organic apex of the perithecium, 
in section, in which the asci are represented as attached to the 
opposite end from which the stalked cells _—_ This pager 
ion, however, is incorrect, as we find on examining a ver 
section of a perithecium. Fig. 6 represents rae a section j the 
base of the perithecium is indicated by the insertion of the asci, 
and it is seen also that the mass of branched cells seine 
basally 
The shape of these — outgrowths can be seen best by refer- 
. 1-4. Each outgr 
in a densely crowded mass, is, I adiore, that of attaching the peri- 
thecium to the leaf. ‘This is effected, apparently, by means of the 
certain stages the protoplasmic contents of the apical —o 
branches appear contracted into a somewhat granular ad, 
which is enlarged at the free end of the branch, while . wall 
becomes more or less disorganised, so that it can only be seen by 
Staining. In this condition, which is represented a ach 
outgrowth has much the appearance of a stem-cell, cme a num- 
ber of stalked spores, and was no doubt mistaken for such by the 
older authors (cfr. figs. 4 and 12). Ina few cases I have noticed 
an opening at the apex of some of the bra pelions and it has then 
appeared as though the protoplasmic contents of these branches 
have disappeared. Certainly the whole mass at some stage of de- 
velopment becomes mucilaginous, and in this es iranenaie 
s foreign mycelium, spores, &¢., to 
action of this mucilaginous substance the pesibhiaehiiuk often eae 
262 
