450 TJmversity of California PubUcaitions in Botmiy [Vol. 7 



jars so that the lower edge did not quite touch the surface of the water. 

 Under these conditions sporophores could be induced to grow through- 

 out the year, new ones appearing successively as the mature specimens 

 were removed. In this way the development of the sporophores could 

 be watched from day to day and compared with conditions found in 

 the field. It might be stated here that at no time was there any essen- 

 tial difference between specimens found in the field and those grown 

 in moist chambers in the laboratory. The moist chambers also fur- 

 nished an excellent opportunity for the study of regeneration phe- 

 nomena. 



In the third source of material, the Herbarium of the University 

 of California, specimens from many localities in California are pre- 

 served, as well as some from Whidbey Island, Washington; from 

 Ontario, Canada ; and from Prance. These sporophores were used for 

 comparison with respect to general morphological characters. 



In the matter of technique no claim is made for originality. It 

 was found at the beginning of the work that the processes used in the 

 treatment of the fleshy fungi did not give satisfactory results when 

 applied to Schizophyllum. After experimenting with many methods 

 those outlined below were found to be the best suited for use with this 

 fungus. 



The killing and fixing agent used for the young sporophores was a 

 70 per cent solution of alcohol with 6 e.c. of commercial formalin 

 added to each 100 c.c. of the alcoholic solution. This not only killed 

 and fixed the material but preserved it indefinitely. Spores were 

 caught in a film of albumen fixative on a slide and fixed in 100 per cent 

 alcohol, thus hardening the fixative and fastening the spores to the 

 slide. 



Most of the sectioning was done on a rotary microtome, the material 

 being frozen in a solution of gum arabic (compare Gardner, 1917). 

 Some of the specimens were imbedded and sectioned in paraffin, but 

 this method did not give good results, as the material became hard and 

 difficult to section. The sporophores for the study of early develop- 

 mental stages were sectioned individually, and all the sections from a 

 single specimen were preserved in a vial. From these vials the sec- 

 tions were poured into shallow dishes where all could be seen. Only 

 those sections cut at or near the median plane were selected for mount- 

 ing. Albumen fixative was used to fasten the sections on the slide. 

 Great care was used in orienting the imbedded sporophores before 

 sectioning, as oblique sections through the revolute hymenial margins 



