54 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF FUNGI 



first the Fungus is composed wholly of simple cells ; no differ- 

 entiation is seen in infancy when the gills are first formed, 

 but the basidia and cystidia come into existence only simul- 

 taneously when the plants approach maturity. This differentia- 

 tion he distinctly regards as sexual, the basidia representing the 

 female and the cystidia the male organs. When the contents 

 of the basidia and the cystidia are interchanged, he says, the^ 

 result is a return to another series of cells, which go to form 

 a new plant. The cystidia are more sparingly produced, and 

 at first cannot be distinguished from the basidia, though fre- 

 quently larger, commonly granular within, and sometimes 

 crowned with granules, but sometimes with four spicules. 

 Subject to moisture, these spicule-erowned cystidia germinate 

 at the four points, and produce long threads, which bear at 

 their tips the granules which are so frequent in typical 

 cystidia. The " granules " at first are not capable of move- 

 ment, but they are in reality spermatozoids possessed of a 

 fecundative power, and after the lapse of a couple of hours 

 begin to revolve, and ultimately swim about with great 

 •rapidity. These spermatozoids attach themselves to the spores, 

 pierce the coat, and discharge their contents into the substance 

 of the spore. From twenty -four to forty -eight hours after 

 this the spore discharges a cell, which soon becomes free, and 

 this is the first cell of a new plant, which rapidly produces 

 others of a like nature. At first the spermatozoids are per- 

 fectly spherical, when they merely oscillate, then they revolve 

 slowly, and, as time goes on, a single turn of a spiral makes 

 itself visible, and the bodies whirl round with great rapidity. 

 At intervals the motion entirely ceases, and then, after a short 

 lapse of time, the gyration is again continued. Judging from 

 the presence of the eddy round these bodies whilst whirling, 

 they are possibly provided with cilia, but from the extreme 

 minuteness of the bodies themselves it is not easy to demon- 

 strate their presence. The whirling of the spermatozoids is 

 so strong that when they attach themselves to the spores they 

 twist them round, after the -manner of the revolving oosphere 

 in Fucus. It is also stated that in many cases the cystidia 

 fall out from the hymenium, and in company with the spores, 

 and that it is upon the moist earth that fertilisation is gener- 



