438 
B. B. HIGGINS 
No Spores of any kind were ever produced in cultures; though a great 
many media, including those mentioned above, steamed fig leaves, steamed 
filter paper, steamed corn meal .mush, steamed corn grains were tried. 
Spermatia. The first spots usually appear on the fig leaves during the 
month of June; but, because of the slow growth of the fungus, infection is 
generally not sufficiently abundant to cause leaf casting until the latter 
part of August. About the time the diseased leaves fall, the fungus shows 
remarkable activity. Pycnidium-like structures develop very abundantly. 
These are the spermogonia. The first indication of their development is a 
profuse branching and coiling of the hyphae at the base of the old conidio- 
phores or at points where new conidiophores are being pushed out (see 
figs. 2 and 3, PI. XXX). Such new conidiophores seem to develop ab- 
normally and do not produce conidia. The weft of intertwining hyphae 
develops into a globose to oval mass which soon breaks the leaf epidermis 
and pushes out beyond. The cells of the mass enlarge. Those toward 
the surface coalesce to form the wall of the spermogonium, while toward 
the center the spermatiferous cells become richer in protoplasm and begin 
the process of forming spermatia even before the wall of the spermogonium 
is formed (fig. 4). 
In this pi'ocess the cell enlarges slowly, while the nucleus grows much 
more rapidly and soon fills almost the entire cell cavity (text fig. 2, a). The 
nucleoplasm stains very faintly, and the nucleolus at this stage is com- 
paratively small. The cytoplasm is granular or finely alveolar in structure. 
The nucleus now divides, but no'cell division occurs at this time. The two 
daughter nuclei reorganize rapidly, soon reach approximately the size of 
the original mother nucleus (text fig. 2, and both divide again. After 
this second division the four nuclei remain rather small, and the nucleoli 
do not reorganize at once (text fig. 2, c). Apparently chromatic material 
is scattered throughout the cytoplasm, which is now very difficult to destain. 
Following this second nuclear division, the cell divides (by cleavage) into 
four approximately equal parts without formation of separating walls. 
Each of the four nuclei with its surrounding cytoplasm ultimately forms a 
spermatium; and these four daughter cells may, therefore, be termed 
young spermatia while remaining within the mother cell wall. One or more 
sterigmata are now pushed out from each spermatial mother cell (text fig. 
2, d)\ and the young spermatia pass out, one at a time, each forming a 
mature spermatium at the apex of the sterigma (text fig. 2, e-h). 
After the young spermatia have passed out of a mother cell wall, some 
slightly stainable substance remains. This seems to be a mucilaginous 
or gelatinous substance that was formed instead of a wall around the young 
spermatia. It probably plays an important part in creating pressure to 
force the young spermatia out of the mother cell wall , and also in carrying 
the mature spermatia out of the spermogonium. The mature spermatia 
are carried out of the spermogonium and held in a mass at its apex (fig. 5, 
