14 British Uvredinee and Ustilaginee. 
Although the paraphyses themselves, when seen singly as 
transparent objects, appear hyaline or yellowish, yet ex 
masse they are almost black in many species, and in all 
distinctly darker than the surrounding tissues. Their 
function, however, is not confined to the attraction of the 
insect visitors ; they also (as has been already stated) main- 
tain the spermatial globule in its place upon the leaf, 
and prevent it being bodily washed away. With regard 
to the presence of some saccharine matter in the spermo- 
gonial masses, I may add that I have found, in confirmation 
of Rathay’s statements, that the spermogonial contents of 
Puccinia obscura both reduced Fehling’s solution and also 
gave the reaction with the indigo-carmine test. 
The so-called spermatia were long regarded as not 
possessing the faculty of germination. Cornu,* however, 
found that when they were placed in water, in which a 
little white cane sugar had been dissolved, and exposed to 
the free action of the air, they were capable of germination. 
During the past five years I have repeated M. Cornu’s 
experiments, at first employing white sugar as the nutrient 
material. Under these conditions the individual spermatia 
at first assume a more regular outline than one commonly 
observes them to have as they are naturally exuded from 
the spermogonial receptacles (Plate I. Figs. 6, 7). They at 
one extremity give out a minute prolongation. This pro- 
longation does not develop into a germ-tube, but gradually 
increases in size, until it acquires the size and form of 
its parent spermatium ; at the end of twenty-four hours 
many of these twin bodies, joined end to end, will be 
observed in the culture (Plate I. Figs. 8, 9). Resembling 
Saccharomyces spores as these bodies do, I at first thought 
some stray yeast-spores had accidentally gained admission 
* Cornu, Belletin de la Société Bot, de France (1876), tome xxiii. pp. 120, 121. 
Compt. rendus, January 21, 1875. 
