VOLUME LXIX 



NUMBER i 



THE 



Botanical Gazette 



JANUARY 1 9 20 



SECOND NOTE ON CERTAIN PECULIAR FUNGUS- 

 PARASITES OF LIVING INSECTS 1 



Roland Thaxter 



(with plates i-v) 



Although the examination of mycological novelties possesses a 

 certain fascination, it may have its drawbacks, since in the present, 

 as in numerous other instances that might be mentioned, their 

 interest may be neutralized to a considerable extent by their very 

 novelty, which may be of such a nature as to make it impossible 

 to assign them a satisfactory position among their fellows, or to 

 arrive at any reasonable conclusion as to the true significance of 

 their characteristics. Although from the point of view of the 

 systematic mycologist, and for his greater peace of mind, Nature 

 might well have been better employed than in elaborating organ- 

 isms which, as far as one can see, are in one way or another inter- 

 lopers in the scheme of organic life, it seems desirable to assemble 

 them as they appear, since the inevitable accessions to their numbers 

 may ultimately be expected to supply, in a majority of cases, some 

 reasonable explanation of their characteristics, which will make it 

 possible to distribute them satisfactorily in their mycological 



pigeonholes. 



This situation seems to be well illustrated by many of the 



forms included in these parasites of living insects, which if their 



isolation were less striking would claim more attention, and have 



to be put aside untii the discovery of similar and related forms 



1 Contribution from the Cryptogamic Laboratories of Harvard University, no. 85. 





