32 
REPRODUCTION OF THE ASCOMYCETES. 
By Dr. Max Cornu. 
(Continued from Vol. V., pp.l4iS.) 
III. — Morphology of Conidia and Spermatia. 
How ought we to consider the Spermatia in the Ascomycetes ? 
— They are spores, with as much right to be called so as others, 
since they germinate and give out filaments which ^ at times 
take the black tint and appearance of mycelial filaments, and which 
contain a plasma exactly resembling that which one observes in 
the Ascomycetes. 
They are very small conidia, of a perfectly special form, and 
borne upon particular arbuscles in protecting conceptacles ; they do 
not in general germinate in pure water, and have a rather slow 
development ; their physiological role appears to be determined by 
their very reduced size and by the circumstances which their 
germination require. 
The Spermatia do not belong at all to a Parasite. — The first 
idea that suggests itself to one’s mind, now that the germinative 
faculty has been recognised in them, is that the spermatia might be 
parasitic organisms, living at the expense of others. 
This is an ancient opinion which has been revived again. There 
are some examples of these parasites among the Ascomycetes ; the 
more common is Spharia cupularis, Pers., which frequently lives at 
the expense of Tuhercularia mdgaris, Tode. One can further cite 
Nectria episphceria, Tode, which one rather often encounters upon the 
half decomposed spherias which it fills more or less complete!}'. 
This opinion is reasonable ; is it exact ? One can affirm it is not. 
The proofs are diverse. 1st. When the three sorts of repro- 
ductive bodies are immersed in the same stroma, there is a con- 
tinuity of tissue between the different organs ; good cuts can easily 
show this. When they are contained in different conceptacles and 
isolated from one another, the tissues present an identical aspect, 
and the mycelium which bears them offers everywhere the same 
appearance; in this last case it frequently happens that the 
exterior form, the similar diameter, the grouping which unites 
them, the manner in which the bark is raised or modified — in a 
word, the general bearing of the conceptacles, shows that one h; s 
to do with similar forms, having between them the greatest analogy. 
Aglaospora profusa gives a good example of these exterior cha- 
racters. The spores are of three sorts, and very different in form ; 
yet the pycnidia and the spermogonia which raise the bark under 
the form of regularly disposed little nipples have a very similar 
aspect, and, without the difference of size, one might confound 
them with one another. 
The Cucurhitaria are another example of these facts ; the circu- 
lar groupings of these beautiful species are very similar in the three 
cases. One might yet invoke the precocious development of the 
