mo\o<;i:.\i>ii of tiik lai:oui,hi;n-ia(;k.k. 



207 



such highly developed forms as are present in Zodiomyces (Plate XXIIT) in which it 

 attains its maximum development as compared with other known genera of the group. 

 Other multicellular forms may be illustrated by such genera as Chsetom yces or Enar- 

 thromyces ( Plate XI, fig. 20 and IV, fig. 8), in which it consists of a single row of super- 

 posed cells, and Rhachomyces (Plate XII), in which, from a similar simple axis a 

 series of appendicular cells is cut off on one side, the predominance of transverse 

 divisions resulting in an elongate form. As an illustration of the reverse condition 

 where a predominance of longitudinal divisions is present, genera like Dichomyces or 

 Diploinyces may be mentioned, in which the habit is stout and compact, this type 

 reaching its greatest complication in the genus Zodiomyces just referred to. 



Although the number and arrangement of the cells which form the receptacle in a 

 given genus is often very constant, this is by no means invariably the case ; and, even 

 in the same species, fixity in this respect does not always exist. In Peyritschiella, for 

 example (Plate VI), although the individuals of a given species do not vary greatly, 

 in so far as the number and arrangement of the cells is concerned, no two species are 

 alike in this respect. The same is true to a more marked degree in Rhachomyces 

 (Plate XII), a genus which is further remarkable from the fact that the main body 

 of the receptacle is in the nature of a lateral proliferation from the sub-basal cell of 

 what may be termed the primary receptacle, as well as from the fact that this pro- 

 liferation may be once or several times repeated, as will be presently noted. Again, in 

 Ceratomyces there may be wide variations in this respect, not only between different 

 species, but in individuals of the same species ; while in other instances in this genus 

 the number and arrangement of the cells of a given species may be invariable. 



In the simple as well as in the more complicated forms, the receptacle is more or less 

 flattened, usually in an antero-posterior plane, the side bearing the appendage in the 

 mature individual being considered for convenience " posterior," where this distinc- 

 tion is possible. In some instances, however, the flattening is in a plane at right 

 angles to that just mentioned, as in Dichomyces and Diploinj'ces. In a majority of 

 instances this flattening is well marked ; but it is most pronounced in forms which 

 have a distinctly appressed habit of growth in relation to their substratum. 



Appendages. With but a single exception in the whole group of Labonlbeniaceoe, 

 the receptacle gives rise to one or more appendages which, though not invariably, are. 

 as a rule, clearly distinguished from it, as well as from the perithecium. These appen- 

 dages, though extremely variable, and affording, in many cases, excellent specific dis- 

 tinctions, are chiefly important from the fact that they are, with few exceptions, asso 

 ciated with the production of the antheridia or male sexual organs of the plant. In 



