POLYMORPHIC FUNGI. 409 
Fungi” it is named Sporidesmium alternaria, for reasons here- 
after detailed (Fig. 79, d). 
Preuss has described, in ‘‘ Sturm’s Flora,” a species of Alterna- 
ria in which the spores are attached end to end in a beaded man- 
ner, as in other species of that genus, and the spores themselves 
are just of the character of the spores of our Sporidesmium, as 
will be seen by reference to, and comparison of, Figs. 79, æ and b. 
Preuss’s Alternaria, which he calls A. chartarum, was also devel- 
oped on paper, and it is not improbable that it is a more highly 
erfected form of the Sporidesmium in question. This view is 
strengthened by the appearance of freshly collected specimens of 
the Sporidesmium, in which, as seen by a half-inch objective, 
the spores seem to be moniliform; but if so, the attachment is 
so slight that all attempts to see them so connected when sepa- 
rated from the matrix have failed. On one occasion a very imma- 
ture condition of the Sporidesmium was examined, containing 
simple beaded spores (Fig. 79, ¢), connected by a short neck. 
There is therefore some foundation for believing that the spores 
of this species are at first hyaline, simple, and connected to- 
gether in a moniliform manner by a short apiculus; but, as sub- 
sequent search did not reveal any further corroborative evidence, 
it can only be considered probable. Finally, Mr. C. E. Broome, 
to whom specimens of the Sporidesmium were submitted, con- 
firmed the observation that, when seen in situ, the spores seemed 
to be beaded. 
The last production which made its appearance on our wail 
paper burst through the varnish as little black spheres like grains 
of gunpowder. At first the varnish was elevated by pressure from 
beneath, then the film was broken, and the little blackish spheres 
appeared. These were, in the majority of instances, gregarious, 
but occasionally a few of the spheres appeared singly, or only two 
or three together. As the whole surface of the damp paper was 
covered by these different fungi, it was scarcely possible to regard 
any of them as isolated, or to declare that one was not connected 
with the mycelium of the others. The little spheres, when the 
paper was torn from the wall, were also growing from the under 
surface, flattened considerably by the pressure. We shall call this 
species, for the sake of distinction, Spheria cyclospora. i 
spherical bodies, or perithecia, were seated on a plentiful color- 
less mycelium. The walls o the perithecia, rather more carbona- 
