206 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MarcH 
septum. In R. undulata no such pores have been demonstrated. 
Such protoplasmic connections, however, are of frequent occurrence 
in the fungi. They were first observed by CHMIELEWSKY (15). 
Subsequently they have been the object of research by DANGEARD 
(19, 20, 21) in Sphaerotheca Humuli, Bactridium flavum, and other 
fungi; and have been studied in various species by MASSEE (52), 
KYENITZ-GERLOFF (48), MEYER (54), GUILLIERMOND (37), and others. 
MEYER in particular has given them considerable attention and has 
demonstrated that open pores exist in the transverse septa of the 
hyphae of many Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes. They possibly 
function in permitting a more rapid transfer of food material from 
cell to cell. 
Archicarp 
When the ascocarp primordium has attained a diameter of 
approximately 1 mm., differentiation begins to take place, certain 
hyphae lying near its center undergoing transformation into archi- 
- carps. The number of archicarps developed in the interior of a 
single ascocarp varies, and when several archicarps lie closely 
approximated their interweaving renders an exact count difficult. 
A careful study, however, of all the consecutive sections of a com- 
plete series through the ascocarp demonstrates that the number is 
in some cases as many as 8, and in many individuals probably more. 
No ascocarp containing less than 3 archicarps has been found. 
Although lateral fusion of adjacent apothecia resulting in the 
formation of irregular compound structures is a common phenom- 
enon, it fails to explain the presence of more than a single archi- 
carp in a fruit-body. Ascocarps of circular form which are clearly 
the result of the enlargement of a single primordium contain several 
archicarps. Moreover, young primordia in which lateral fusions 
have certainly not taken place reveal several archicarps in the 
process of development. 
While the production of several archicarps in a single apothecium 
is unusual in the Discomycetes, this condition being more typical 
of the discomycetous lichens, it is not unique. OvERTON (56) 
finds that in Thecotheus Pelletieri the apothecium is compound, 
the fruit-body arising from several multicellular archicarps. In 
other Discomycetes, of which Pyronema confluens is perhaps the 
