PUFF-BALL FUNGI— GASTROMYCETES 151 



considerable variations in structure from the genuine puff- 

 balls. These are the Phalloideae, the Nidulariaceae, and the 

 subterranean or Hypogeae. The latter come in for notice 

 under the head of " subterranean Fungi." 



The Phalloideae, or stink-horn Fungi, have mostly a very 

 fetid odour, and instead of enclosing within themselves pul- 

 verulent spores mixed with threads, present externally a 

 gelatinous mass of agglutinated spores, which is collected upon 

 some superior and exposed surface. The whole number of 

 described species in this family is about eighty, and they are 

 most common in warm climates. Some are stipitate and 

 others clathrate or latticed, but all are at first enclosed in 

 a general volva of an egg -shape, with a gelatinous inner 

 stratum. The entire plant is of a soft, watery texture, quick 

 in growth, and rapid in decay. As the gelatinous dark- 

 coloured mass of the hymenium is greedily devoured by 

 insects, it is reasonably assumed that it is by this agency that 

 the spores are dispersed. 



Mr. T. Wemyss Fulton devoted some attention to this 

 subject, 1 and the following is a digest of his observations, en- 

 tirely confined to the common stink-horn, Ithyphattus impvdicus, 

 which grows freely ' in woods and gardens : — " The hymeno- 

 phore or reproductive portion consists, in its earliest stages, of 

 minute swellings, which arise on the underground mycelium. 

 These at first are homogeneous, but gradual differentiation 

 goes on, so that towards maturity the following parts may be 

 recognised. (1) An enclosing cortical portion, the volva or 

 peridium, composed of three layers — an outer firm skin, an 

 inner thin membrane, and an intermediate gelatinous layer. 

 At the base there is a cup-shaped portion, which supports the 

 stem, and is continuous by its margin with the peridial 

 layers, and below with the mycelium. (2) A central medullary 

 portion, composed of two very different structures, the gleba 

 or spore-bearing part, which forms a hollow conical cap, lyinw 

 within the inner peridium, and surrounding the upper portion 

 of the stem, to the apex of which it is attached. Its outer 

 surface bears the hymenium, and is honeycombed by a number 



1 " Dispersion of Spores of Fungi by Agency of Insects, with special reference 

 to the Phalloidei," by T. Wemyss Fulton, in Annals of Botany, toI. iii., 1889. 



