o cystidách Hymenomycetů. 43 



insure suf f icient room for the newly-f orming spores ; Corda, 

 Smith, Quélet and Kohl hold that cystidia are male sexual 

 organs; Hesse affirms that they serve to the purpose of 

 dissemination of spores, analogically to the peristome of 

 mosses, or the elaters of hepatics; Hoffman, Patouillard and 

 Topin are of the opinion that cystidia are excretory organs, 

 but offer no proofs of their theory; Istvánfi, Fayod and 

 Demelius say them tobě mechanically protective hairs; Knoll 

 and Neger explain them as hydathodes regulating turgor and 

 the water-balance in the sporophore. 



In the greatest number of cases cystidia act as s e c r e- 

 tive organs. Their secretion is as a rule very perceptible 

 at the time of the budding of the spores ; the chemical cha- 

 racter of the secretion is not yet thoronghly known, in the 

 first pláce because so far it has not been possible to obtain 

 any larger quantity of it, in the second pláce because on 

 account of the lack of reagents consequents on the war it 

 has been impossible to carry out all the necessary reactions 

 and anály tical tests. AI most always it contains minuty drops 

 of resin, ethereal oils, terpenes, and dif f erent orga- 

 nic salts; the bunchy, hairy formations in the cystidia of 

 I n o c y b e are not, as is usually stated, out growths of the 

 >cell-wa]l, but crystals of CaC204- In the cystidia of Der- 

 mocybe cinamommea, Boletus granulatus, B. 

 Boudieri QuéL, Leuiota cristata Bolt., M a r a s- 

 mius; alliaceus Jacq,, Corticium evolvens Fries, 

 Stropharia stercora ria, Merulius tremellosus, 

 Inoloma pholideum Fr., Boletus luridus Schaef. 

 var. sordarius Fr., Naucoria cucumis Sow,, by war- 

 ming with CCUCHÍOHg) there are obtained feathery den- 

 drites, strikingly resemblant to TunmanrCs cry!?tals of a g a- 

 ricinacid. The quantity of resin contained often gives 

 to the flesh of the head a sharp, bitter teste, while the ter- 

 penes and ethereal oils are responsible for the characteristic 

 odor. Further testimony to the secretive nature of cystidia 

 is born by the folio wing circumstances : 1. the striking simi- 

 iarity of the plasmatic contents of cystidia to that of hyphae 

 of the conductive-system, which as secretive organs are threa- 

 ded through the whole sporophore; 2. in species of Lac- 



