SPORE FORMATION IN PHILOCOPRA COERULEOTECTA 67 
At the close of the last division the nuclei are situated near the 
wall of the ascus. They are very small but distinctly beaked. The 
central body is at the tip of the beak and appears to be in contact 
with the plasma membrane of the ascus. The nucleole may be 
situated at the end of the nucleus farthest from the central body, 
near the base of the beak, or on any one side. The chromatin is fine 
and granular. There is a dense region of cytoplasm around the nu- 
cleus. The cytoplasm in the center of the ascus is very vacuolate and 
apparently devoid of nuclei. The nuclei are conspicuously located 
near the wall. Figure ii represents a longitudinal section through 
an ascus at this stage. The central part contains many vacuoles. 
The nuclei are peripherally located and surrounded by a dense cyto- 
plasm. The beaks are visible on only four of the nuclei figured. The 
others have been cut across below the beaks in sectioning. 
Figure 12 represents a cross-section of an ascus at the same stage. 
The peripheral arrangement of the beaked nuclei is even more mani- 
fest in this view. The large internal portion and the basal and apical 
regions of the ascus contain only cytoplasm. The centers are distinct 
and the nuclei are conspicuously beaked. The nuclei are very small 
at this stage. 
Figure 13 represents a slightly later stage. The section has been 
cut somewhat obliquely from the side of an ascus. It shows only a 
small part of the ascus near the periphery. The nuclei with their 
long slender beaks are always pointing toward the membrane, the 
centers apparently in contact with the latter, although the nuclei in 
this stage, as well as in that represented by figures 11 and 12, always 
have the centers in contact with the plasma membrane of the ascus. 
They are comparatively small at this stage, but the fact that so many 
of them lie with their longitudinal axis in the plane of the section 
allows them to be easily observed. There is no definite arrangement 
as regards their exact direction. This is especially clear from figure 13. 
The fine cytoplasmic masses surrounding the nuclei are very con- 
spicuous in this figure. Often little fibers can be seen radiating from 
the centers. A close study of the two beaked nuclei on the left of 
the figure shows the centers against the plasma membrane with an 
indentation of the membrane between as if the astral rays of the 
two nuclei meet in this region. On the other sides of these nuclei 
there is a similar appearance, reminding one of the stages in Geoglossum 
glahrum Pers. when the interastral zones are formed by the meeting 
