180 The American Naturalist. [February, 
stage being the homologue of the spore fruit, the teleutospore of the 
ascus and the teleutospore cells of the ascospores. The clear outer 
pellicle here greatly increases the resemblance to the ascus. A few 
weeks ago while examining Uvopyxis petalostemonis (Farl.) D. By., a 
three-celled teleutospore was observed (Fig. 8, æ). The resemblance 
of the normal form to the ascus is plain, but here it was indeed strik- 
ing, the walls of the cells were so plainly distinct from the pellicle and 
that of one cell from the other cells. The spores could plainly be seen 
to overlap as they lay surrounded by the clear pellicle, the spore sac or 
ascus. 
In many teleutospores, if not in all, an outer surrounding sac entire- 
ly separate from the enclosed spores may be differentiated. It may 
readily be seen by heating the spores for a few moments before mount- 
ing in nitric acid, In spores thus treated the wall swells out, leaving 
the spores within clearly distinct. Brownian movement may frequently 
be seen between the separated wall and the spores, indicating that it is 
not merely a swelling of the wall, but a separating, the space created 
being filled with a fluid. A teleutospore of Puccinia jonesit Pk. treated 
in the above manner is represented by Fig. 4, æ. Three of the nor- 
mal spores are shown in Fig. 5. Another peculiar feature of this 
species is its long and exceedingly fragile pedicels (Fig. 5, 4 and c). 
They were described by Peck originally as exceedingly short (Fig. 5, 
@), the mistake being caused undoubtedly by their easy deciduous 
character. In type specimens, it was only by long soaking and re- 
peated attempts that I obtained the pedicels attached (See Ellis, N. 
A. F., No. 1448). In Nebraska, specimens on Musenium tenuifolium 
while hails, I with but little difficulty, found them attached. 
Spores of Puccinia nigrescens Pk., a typical Puccinia, treated in nitric 
acid, presented the same peculiar swollen appearance (Fig. 4, 4). 
ypical Puccinia spores prepared as above greatly resemble spores 
of Uropyxis. Schréeter, in Hedwigia, 1875, p. 65, separated Puccinia 
amorphe Curt. from Puccinia, placing it from the distinct outer 
hyaline layer of its spores in a new genus, which he called Uropyxis. 
To this genus one more species, Uropyxis petalostemonis (Farl.) 
Toni. has since been added. Some mycologists think the difference 
between the two genera too slight to justify distinction. The differ- 
ence at most is but slight, and when we treat Puccinia spores with 
nitric acid as above the distinction vanishes entirely. Are we then to 
consider Uropyxis as distinct from Puccinia merely because the spore 
is surrounded by an outer désfinct layer, while in Puccinia the outer 
layer occurs but is indistinct?—Herrsert J. WEBBER, Lincoln, Ned. 
