CULTIVATION. 263 
together under a proposed new genus with the name of Sclero- 
tinia. Two or three species of Typhula, in like manner, spring 
from forms of Selerolium, long known as Sclerolium compla- 
natum and Sclerotium scutellatum. Other forms of Sclerotium 
are known, from one of which, found in a mushroom-bed, Mr. 
Currey developed Xylaria vaporaria, B., by placing it on damp 
sand covered with a bell glass.* Others, again, are only known 
in the sclerotioid state, such as the Sclerotium slipitatum found in 
the nests of white ants in South India.t From what is already 
known, however, we feel justified in the conclusion that the 
so-called species of Sclerotium are a sort of compact mycelium, 
from which, under favourable conditions, perfect fungi may be 
developed. Mr. Berkeley succeeded in raising from the minute 
Sclerotium of onions, which looks like grains of coarse gun- 
powder, a species of Mucor. This was accomplished by placing 
a thin slice of the Sclerotium in a drop of water under a glass 
slide, surrounded by a pellicle of air, and luted to prevent 
evaporation and external influences.t 
As to the cultivation of moulds and Duwcors, one great diffi- 
culty has to be encountered in the presence or introduction of 
foreign spores to the matrix employed for their development. 
Bearing this in mind, extensive cultivations may be made, but 
the conditions must influcnce the decision upon the results. 
Rice paste has been used with advantage for sowing the spores 
of moulds, afterwards keeping them covered from external in- 
fluences. In cultivation on rice paste of rare species, the 
experimenter is often perplexed by the more rapid growth of 
the common species of Mucor and Penicillium. Mr. Berkeley 
succeeded in developing up to a certain point the fungus of the 
Madura Foot, but though perfect sporangia were produced, the 
further development was masked by the outgrowth of other 
species. In like manner, orange juicc, cut surfaces of fruits, 
* Currey, in ‘Linn. Trans.” xxiv. pl. 25, figs. 17, 26. 
+ Berkeley, ‘On Two Tuberiform Veg. Productions from Travancore,” in 
“Trans. Linn. Soc.” vol. xxiii. p. 91. 
+ Berkeley, ‘‘ On a Peculiar Form of Mildew in Onions,” ‘‘ Journ. Hort. Soc.” 
vol. iii p. 91, 
