1879. | Microscopical Fungi Lnfesting our Cereals. 615 
botanists, these sporidia penetrate the epidermis of young and 
tender corn-stalks, mostly in the region between the root and the 
first joint of the stem. The mycelium grows in am upward 
direction, following the course of the longitudinal cells. How- 
ever, the growth of the plant seems not to be injured; on the 
contrary, the infected plants are apparently of a more fresh and 
bluish green, and it is not before the time of fructification that the 
devastation becomes visible. 
The process of germinating is very nearly the same in the oat 
and maize smut, whereas the “bunt,” or Tilletia caries shows 
some interesting peculiarities. In this parasite, which is to be 
found exclusively within wheat grains, the sporidia are produced 
_ in a verticillate manner fromthe germ tube. They repeatedly 
anastomose, and this anastomosis, or conjunction, is considered 
as an act of fructification, for immediately afterwards we see that 
odspores are formed, from which very minute threads are sent 
forth which become free and carry the disease over to other 
wheat plants. 
It requires an experienced eye to discover the bunt in any 
wheat field, for the infected ears are not distinguished in their 
outer appearance from the healthy ones. The diseased grains, 
however, when rubbed between the fingers, burst at the slightest 
pressure, and we see that instead of the white meal they are filled 
with a dark smutty mass, which is distinguished by a nauseous 
smell resembling herring brine, produced by a volatile oil, the 
trimethylamine, which is also to be found in herrings. 
However destructive all these smuts may be, it is within the 
power of any farmer, if not to prevent at least to limit their 
excessive increase. The spores have been found adhering in 
large numbers to the grains which are harvested, and which, of 
course, when sown in spring, will transmit the contagion to the 
next crop. Now a solution of copper-vitriol, which is not hurtful 
to the seeds, is sure to kill the dangerous spores, and so we have 
an efficacious and at the same time cheap preventive remedy on 
d 
ITI. Rusts and Brands.—The parasites of the hitherto described 
Species we have found to be destructive to the several organs of 
fructification. The following fungi belong to an entirely different 
genus. They infest and destroy the stem as well as the leaves 
and vagine of our graminez and other cultivated plants, and 
yo 
