4 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JANUARY 
FiscHer in regard to the part which the central core or medulla 
plays in the formation of the mature fruit body. According to 
Fiscuer, the wall of the ‘‘stipe” (the stemlike portion of the 
receptacle) is formed on the outside of the portion of the medulla 
which lies within the young fruit body, so that this portion of the 
medulla or central strand would lie within the stipe. According 
to Burt, in Mutinus caninus the central strand, while connected 
with the central mass of tissue in the young fruit body, does not 
take part in the formation of the stipe. All parts of the fruit 
body, with the exception of the external portion of the outer layer 
of the volva, are, according to him, derived from the deeply staining 
mass of tissue which lies in the center of the broadened end of the - 
young fruit body. The examination which I have been able to — 
make of longitudinal sections of young fruit bodies of Jthyphallus — 
‘impudicus, in the different stages of development, leads me to 
believe that the position and extent of development of this central — 
strand in the young fruit bodies is a variable one. ; 
In the center of the broadened end of the very young fruit body — 
there arises a homogeneous, compact tissue, composed of intricately — 
interwoven hyphae rich in protoplasm. This tissue may be — 
regarded as fundamental or primordial tissue, which later gives 
rise by growth and differentiation to the parts of the mature plant. — 
In none of the very young fruit bodies, just prior to or at the time — 
of the appearance of this central primordium, of which I succeeded _ 
in getting longitudinal sections, was there a direct continuation 
of the central strand into the middle portion. The hyphae of 
the central strand, singly or in fascicles often fan-shaped, diverge — 
in various directions and seem to be lost near the periphery of the 
proximal end. The central portion of the young fruit body is 
probably developed from the young apical region of the central — 
strand, but in none examined have I seen the strand as a whole — 
in connection with the central primordium, or, as already stated, 
even extending into the central region of the young fruit body. © 
My sections have been studied very carefully in this respect, since 
Burt in Mutinus caninus and Fiscuer in I thyphallus impudicus — 
have found the strands as a whole extending into the interior of - 
the fruit body, and as a whole in connection with the central _ 
