NATURE OF THE SPERMATIA 23 
of the ecidium or its representative, and on the same my- 
celium. For instance, in those cases where there is no ecidium, 
but primary uredospores which are formed, like ecidiospores, 
from a fusion-cell, followed by secondary uredospores which are 
not so formed although similar in all other respects—then the 
primary spores alone are accompanied by the spermogones. 
This argument is the most decisive. 
(2) Their size and character. They are much smaller than 
the other spore-forms, with thin walls, a large and not very 
degenerate nucleus though often without a nucleolus, little 
protoplasm and no reserve-stuff (oil, etc. with which the 
ordinary spores of the Uredinales are so richly provided), thus 
reminding one of the spermatia of the Floridez. 
Sharp (1911) reports, in Puccinia Podophylli, spermatia 
three times as long as the nucleus, and therefore containing 
some appreciable amount of cytoplasm. But protoplasm is not 
reserve-stuff. 
(3) They will not reproduce the species. All the efforts 
that have been made to cause them to do so have uniformly 
failed. All the other reproductive cells of these Fungi can be 
successfully used for that purpose, if applied to the proper host. 
In some species, as Cronartium ribicola, the spermatia can be 
collected in large quantities: Klebahn made numerous trials 
with them, but entirely without result. Jaczewski and others 
have confirmed his experience. It is a commonplace observa- 
tion that highly specialised male cells cannot in themselves 
reproduce the species, while female cells can, as in the cases of 
parthenogenesis, both true and false. This difference in be- 
haviour is partly correlated with the difference in the amount 
of food-reserve available, with which the larger female gametes 
are usually well supplied. In conjugation, where the two 
(male and female) gametes are approximately of equal size (as 
in certain Mucorini), each may form a functional azygospore. 
(4) They will hardly germinate in water, probably because 
they have no reserve-food. If food is supplied by cultivating 
them in nutrient solutions, a little growth is obtained, but it 
is very insignificant and soon perishes. The same thing is 
true of male cells in other organisms. Conidia, under such 
