200 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
through the palisade filaments the veil is broken and thrown off. The 
paraphyses arise from ordinary hyphae in the interior of the fruiting 
body, and are in the early stages quite similar to the filaments of the 
palisade layer, so that the hymenium can only be distinguished at 
this period by the greater number and the closer and more regular 
arrangement of its units. Later on, however, the paraphyses elongate 
and become thinner, less bulbous, and more closely packed. In this 
older condition they are filled, especially near their ends, with dense 
deeply staining contents in which the nuclei seem to have degenerated. 
They are also septate and their more basal cells show two or more 
small dense nuclei. The hyphae which give rise to paraphyses may 
be traced for some distance into the hyphal mass of the cap, and 
indeed in many cases nearly to its lower surface. 
STORAGE BODIES.—A conspicuous feature in sections of Helvella 
elastica is the presence of large cellular bodies filled with contents, 
and distributed irregularly throughout the whole of the fruiting 
body except the stem. These bodies are quite large, attaining some- 
times 20-30 times the diameter of the surrounding hyphae, but they 
vary exceedingly in size and shape. Sometimes they form a chain 
of three or four connected cells, or they may consist of a single mass 
with irregular protuberances, or they may be merely filaments enlarged 
for a considerable portion of their length. They often occur in 
groups, the individuals of which are unconnected. 
In most of the ascomata sectioned the protoplasm of these bodies 
had shrunken somewhat from the cell wall. It is coarsely granular 
and stains deeply. Nuclei are present in numbers varying from 1 
to 20 or more. There are usually present either one or two large 
nuclei (figs. 46, 48, 50, 63), or a number of smaller ones, though 
both sizes may occur in the same cell (fig. 46). Moreover, as shown 
in figs. 46-56, which are taken from a single representative ascoma, 
all stages intermediate between these extremes may exist. The 
large nuclei are loosely reticulate in structure, while the smaller are 
dense and stain deeply. The latter show in many cases a tendency to 
occur in masses (figs. 49, 52, 54, 56). Another conspicuous feature 
among the nuclei of these large bodies is their frequent arrangement 
in pairs (figs. 47, 53, 55, 61). 
The general occurrence of these bodies throughout the cap would 
