FERTILISA TION 



59 



and seem to carry their summit so as to meet the crosier- 

 shaped appendages, and they are soon united two and two. 

 The union or meeting of the extremity of the crosier tube 

 with the neighbouring paracyst was a constant fact, which he 

 had observed a hundred times, and leisurely during a few 

 months. There is no joining of these cells except in the very 

 limited point where they meet, and there may be seen a 

 circular perforation at the end, defined by a round swelling. 

 Elsewhere they may be very near together, but they are 

 always free from any adherence whatever. One thing can be 



/// 



Fig. 36. — Formation of zygospore in Mucorini. After De Bary. 



affirmed — that the conjugated cells, especially the larger, 

 wither and empty themselves, while the upright tubes, which, 

 ultimately constitute the asci, increase and multiply. 



As to the "scolecite," so called, there can be no doubt 

 that some such bodies have been seen, but their significance 

 has been misinterpreted. It is probably the first distinction 

 of the fertile from the sterile hyphae, and in no sense 

 represents the female organ. 



The above will suffice for the Ascomycetes; and we have 

 left to us the Phy corny cetes, as containing the most decided and 

 definite examples of sexuality amongst the Fungi. The Mucors, 

 in species already investigated, develop zygospores from the 

 hyphae of the mycelium (Fig. 36). A short clavate branch 

 is produced from each of two neighbouring hyphae. These 

 branches approach each other by their apices until they touch, 

 and are called the suspenders. They contain an abundance of 



