VIl] 



PATHOLOGY OF FOSSIL TISSUES. 



215 



described by Etheridge^ from a Permo-Carboniferous coral. 

 This observer records the occurrence of tubular cavities in the 

 calices of Stenopora crinita Lonsd., and attributes their origin 

 to a fungus which he names Palaeoperone endophytica ; he 

 mentions one case in which a tube contains fine spherical 

 spore-like bodies which he compares with the spores of a 

 Saprolegnia. As pointed out above (p. 128), it is almost 

 impossible to decide how far these tubes in shells and corals 

 should be attributed to fungi, and how far to algae. 



Fig. 42. A, B, C. Tracheids of coniferous wood attacked by Trametes radiciperda 

 Hart. (Polyporus aniiosus Fr.) D and E. Tracheids attacked by Agarlcus 

 melleiis Vahl. A, x 650, B— E, x 360. (After Hartig.) 



Passing from the direct evidence obtained from the presence 

 of fungal hyphae in petrified tissues, we must draw attention 

 to the indirect evidence of fungal action afforded by many 

 fossil plants. It is important to be familiar with at least the 

 more striking effects of fungal ravages in recent wood in order 

 that we may escape some of the mistakes to which pathological 

 phenomena may lead us in the case of fossils^ 



The gradual dissociation of the elements in a piece of 



1 Etheridge (92) PI. tii. 



2 Hartig (76) and (94), Goppert and Menge (83). 



