SMUTS. 77 



his hands and clothing became dusted with this 

 powder ; and if at the time he should have been clad 

 in sombre blacky evidence will have been afforded 

 -in the rusty-looking tint of the powder when 

 sprinkled upon his black continuations — that^ how- 

 ever sooty this powder might appear whilst still 

 adhering to the ears of corn^ it has an evident brown 

 tint when in contact with one^s clothes. This 

 powder^ minute as it is^ every granule of it consti- 

 tutes a spore or protospore capable of germination^ 

 and ultimately^ after several intermediate stages_, of 

 reproducing a fungus like the parent of which it 

 formed a part. During the growth of the plant its 

 virulent contents flow like a poison through the 

 innermost tissues^ and at length attack the peduncle 

 or axis of the spikelets of the ear^ raising up the 

 essential organs and reducing them to a rudimentary 

 state. Brongniart^ who made this species the 

 special subject of observation^, states that the fleshy 

 mass which is occupied by the fungus consists 

 entirely of uniform tissue^ presenting large^ almost 

 quadrilateral cavities^ separated by walls^ composed 

 of one or two layers of very small cells filled witb 

 a compact homogeneous mass of very minute gra- 

 nules, perfectly spherical and equal, slightly adher- 

 ing to each other, and at first green, afterwards 

 free or simply conglomerate towards the centre of 

 each mass, and of a pale rufous hue ; at length the 

 cellular walls disappear, the globules become com- 

 pletely insulated, and the whole mass is changed 



