HEART-ROT CAUSED BY OTHER FUNGI 129 
naked eye. With respect to the secretion of liquid which 
occurs at the time of spore dispersal, the following quotation 
from Schrenk (1900) is of interest : 
* At the time of ripening of the spores it was noticed that 
hundreds of drops of a yellowish liquid were hanging from 
the hymenial surfaces every morning when the fungus in 
question was visited. Some of these drops were carefully 
collected and were examined. In them floated a number 
of spores and flocculent yellowish-brown masses, which 
stained yellow with nitric acid. These were present for 
several days. Thereafter the liquid was almost clear except 
for numberless spores which were in every drop. For three 
weeks the drops were collected with a pipette during the 
day, and during the night a plate, carefully protected 
against dew and rain, was placed under the fungus. In 
this way about three-fifths of a pint (300 c.c.) of liquid 
were collected. This was poured into an open dish and put 
in a cool place, where the water was allowed to evaporate. 
A thick brown syrup was left after some weeks, which had 
the odour of very impure molasses. The syrup was trans- 
ferred to a vial, which was corked and placed in a warm 
place. In a few days delicate needle-shaped crystals shot 
out, which on examination proved to be melezitose and 
mycose, sugars sometimes found in fungi. 
‘ At the same time that this secretion appeared on the 
hymenium, or rather shortly afterwards, a number of small ° 
beetles began to devour the hymenium with great avidity. 
So active were they that within three weeks of their appear- 
ance the hymenium was entirely destroyed, and of course 
with it whatever spores had remained. It is suggested that 
the secretion of this sugar and the destruction of the 
hymenium by the beetles may have some meaning in con- 
nexion with the dispersal of the spores. It is a point worthy 
of further observations by local observers in future years.’ 
Rot in the wood. In all sections of living trunks which 
I have obtained, showing rot with this fungus, the rot is 
entirely confined to the heart-wood. Consequently in the 
Scots pine with its narrow heart-wood the rot is much 
1883 
