CASH AND HICK : ON FOSSIL FUNGI. 
121 
caying stumps and sticks of trees, and when in fructification 
consist mainly of an extremely thin- walled sporangium, filled 
with small spores, which may or may not be accompanied with 
a filamentous Capillitium. On the rupture of the sporangium, 
these spores are scattered in immense quantities, and often 
form a thick layer of dust on the substratum on which the 
fungus has grown. Now it is just possible that our fossil 
spores may be of a myxomycetous nature, seeing that they 
occur in and among tissues that have undergone a certain 
amount of disintegration and decay, and so far resemble 
those that favour the development of existing forms. 
Another consideration lending strength to such a supposi- 
tion, is found in the fact that the size of our fossil specimens 
agrees almost exactly with that of spores obtained from 
living species, while the appearance of the two kinds is 
almost identical. 
Description of the Plate. 
Fig. 1. — Three cells of the tissue in which the fungus is 
found. The walls are ill-defined and evidently 
corroded. At 6 is one of the presumed Oospores, 
1 J 00 inch in diameter. 
Fig. 2. — Selected threads, showing the typical forms met 
with. 
(6) Oospore, ll \ 0 inch in diameter. 
(c) Portion of hypha showing septa. 
(d) Portions of hypha showing cell -wall and 
protoplasm. 
(e) Hypha branching. 
(a) Hyphse suggesting the former existence of 
transverse septa, though now absent. 
Fig. 3. — Spores, supposed to be those of some Myxomycetous 
Fungus. 
