326 Scientific Intelligence. 



in the Ustilaginese, the development of the spores were in an 

 important respect different from those of other IJstilagineae. This 

 being the case, one is perhaps hardly justified in predicting that, 

 in their later development, the Ustilaginese proper are likely to 

 have ascorporic forms like Ustilaginoidea. It is a conceivable 

 supposition, to say the least, that Ustilaginese are a heterogeneous 

 group and that when more is known of their development, they 

 may prove to be imperfect conditions of more than one order of 

 higher fungi. w. G. F. 



11. Die Entwickelung des Peritheciums bei Sphaerotheca Cas- 

 tagnei. By R. A. Harper (Bericht. Deutscb. Bot. Gesell., xiii, 

 475-481, PI. 39). — More than twenty-five years ago DeBary 

 advanced the opinion that the perithecium of Sphaerotheca and 

 its allies is of sexual origin. At that time botanical technique 

 was very different from what it is at the present day, and 

 DeBary did not attempt to show that there was an actual union 

 of the nuclear elements of what he considered to be the male and 

 female organs. More recently there has been a tendency among 

 mycologists to regard the sexuality in this case as doubtful or 

 even disproved. In the present paper, the author, making use of 

 the best modern manipulations, confirms the general account of 

 the origin and nature of the antheridiura and oogonium originally 

 given by DeBary, and describes and figures the union of the 

 nuclei of the male and female organs, adding important details 

 with regard to the development of the perithecium from the 

 oogonium. The fertilized nucleus of the female does not develop 

 further until the ascogonium is surrounded by an envelope of two 

 layers. The ascogonium then elongates and curves away from 

 the side where the antheridium was attached. The nucleus now 

 divides into •two, and a transverse wall divides the ascogonium 

 into two cells, the lower of which does not develop farther. The 

 nucleus of the upper cell divides again and the process is repeated 

 until a more or less curving row of five or six cells is formed. 

 Each cell of this row contains a single nucleus except that next 

 to the terminal cell, which has two nuclei and becomes the ascus. 

 The ascus then enlarges strongly on the upper side, pushing the 

 terminal cell sidewise and downwards until it is finally absorbed 

 and disappears. The two nuclei of the ascus now fuse, but the 

 author does not consider this to be a sexual act but another 

 instance of the nuclear fusion known in asci and basidia. Finally 

 the large nucleus divides three times and there are formed eight 

 spores. w. g. f. 



Dr. Johann Muller (known as Muller Argoniensis), died at 

 Geneva Jan. 28. in his 68th year. He was the Director of the 

 Jardin Botanique and Custodian of the Delessert Herbarium. He 

 was distinguished as a Lichenologist, and also wrote theEuphorbi- 



