514 The American Naturalist. [June, 
The Laboulbeniacese are minute, stalked and commonly bristle-bear- 
ing parasites occurring upon beetles and, to a less extent, other insects. 
They are so small that only the keenest eyes can detect them without 
the aid of a good pocket-lens. They are most common upon insects 
living in moist places, although by no means uncommon upon those 
living in other situations. A close examination of any entomological 
collection of beetles is almost certain to be rewarded by the discovery 
of many specimens. Dr. Thaxter recommends examining the beetles 
suspected of harboring these parasites first over a dull white and then 
over a black surface, using a hand-lens magnifying from eight to ten 
diameters. ‘Every portion of the insect should be examined in differ- 
ent positions, and when the parasites have been discovered, they should 
‘be removed by means of a dissecting-needle inserted in a match far 
enough to give it the requisite stiffness, while its apex should have been 
ground on a fine oil-stone until a sharp, slightly oblique chisel-point 
has been obtained. With such a point, the individuals are scraped off 
without much difficulty, and should be transferred to a very small drop 
of water on the slide.” 
Structurally, these tiny fungi have the following characteristics: “A 
main body, or receptacle, is fixed by means of a blackened base, or foot, 
to the integument of the host, and consists, in most cases, of a very 
small number of cells differently arranged in different genera. This 
receptacle gives rise above to certain peculiar appendages of very vari- 
able form, commonly connected with the production of the male sex- 
ual organs; while from the same individual, with few exceptions, in 
which the plants are dicecious, female organs are also variously pro- 
duced, from which perithecia are eventually developed. In the peri- 
thecif, which may arise, singly or in considerable numbers from a 
given individual, and which are quite remarkable in structure, are pro- 
duced the reproductive bodies or ascospores that are formed in asci 
identical in all respects with the organs thus named in other membat 
of the great group of ascomycetous fungi.” 
A close study of the structure of these minute plants shows clearly 
their relationship to the Rhodophyceæ, and since they are also, without 
doubt, true Ascomyceteæ, we have here a strong suggestion as to the 
origin of the asco-fungi. The author’s guarded remarks that such a 
supposition “is not unworthy of consideration,” and that such a theory 
“is more probable as well as more logical than that which is usually 
held,” are quite justified by the structure which he so clearly describes 
and figures. This work is therefore a welcome confirmation of the 
views of those who, like the present reviewer, have heldjon theoretical 
