228 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



saprophyte on the mummy Apples. These mummy Apples are covered 

 by the growth of the fungus with a matted mycelium, protected by which 

 perithecia containing asci are gradually developed in a stroma. These 

 perithecia mature the next summer when the ascospores are shed out of 

 the asci. The ascospores are no doubt carried by the pomaceous flies 

 before mentioned, and germinating on the green Apples start the disease 

 again for another year. 



The author gives an account of artificial cultures on Apple agar, &c, 

 upon which both the Glceosporium stage and the permanent stage 

 developed, while the disease was induced in Apples by artificial infection. 



The parasitic form was described under the name Glceosporium fructi- 

 (jcnum by M. J. Berkeley (see Gard. Chron. 1856, p. 245), while the 

 permanent stage is now technically described by the author for the first 

 time under the name Gnomoniopsis fructigena, Berk., who has slightly 

 modified the characters of the genus Gnomoniopsis, Stoneman, in order 

 that this species may be included. 



Both papers are freely illustrated, figures being given of the diseases 

 and the fungi producing them. — F. J. C. 



The Black Currant Mite. 



Black Currant Gall Mite, Eriophyes (Phytoptis) ribis, West- 

 wood, The Life History of the. By Cecil Warburton and Alice L. 

 Embleton (Linn. Soc. Jour. vol. xxviii. pp. 366-378; plates 33, 34; 

 1902). — An exceedingly interesting and instructive account of this 

 destructive pest. The new and important facts concerning the life-history 

 of the mite are taken from the summary as follows : — 



"3. Distribution is effected by (1) crawling, (2) adhering to insects, 

 (3) leaping. 



" 5. The mi tea are unable to maintain life in the ground, nor do they 

 attack the roots." 



As to the distribution of the mites by adhering to insects &0. the 

 writers {I.e. p. 369) say that when the mites were first observed on the 

 outside of the abortive buds one curious point in their behaviour attracted 

 attention, even under the slight magnification of a pocket lens. Though 

 some were actively crawling about, others appeared to be standing on end 

 and motionless, except for the waving of their legs. A series of observa- 

 tions and experiments were undertaken with a view to ascertaining the 

 precise nature and purpose of this phenomenon, with the following 

 results. 



A migrating mite, after crawling for a short distance in the manner 

 already described, would obtain a firmer hold upon the surface of the bud 

 with its tail-disc and assume an upright attitude (pi. 33, figs. 5, 6, 9; 

 pi. 34, figs. 14, 15). The necessary hold was not always gained in the 

 first attempt, the disc sometimes slipping, and here again the tail-bristles 

 came into play, serving to anchor the animal to the bud and to give a 

 certain amount of prop-like support to its rigid body. The position was 

 not necessarily vertical, but at right angles to the supporting surface, 

 and frequently oblique or even horizontal, and it was remarkable how the 

 vermiform soft-bodied mite would maintain for several minutes an 



