280 
Mycologia 
point of contact. In the immediate vicinity, two branches of 
apple ( Pyrus Malus L.) which had also come in contact with in- 
fected alders, had been killed in the same way. 
That, in the case of the diseased spice bush, the dead alder was 
the source of infection, was proven by the fact that at many points 
along the alder trunk the fruiting bodies of the fungus appeared, 
in these cases being simply flat, more or less circular, blackish 
crusts. Moreover, where the trunk emerged from the soil, it was 
fairly covered with a crust of the same fungus, which was good 
evidence, when the parasitic tendencies of the fungus were defi- 
nitely ascertained, that the alder had itself died from the attacks 
of the Hymenochaete at its base. The wood of the alder was 
quite soft, and evidently contained the mycelium of the Hymeno- 
chaete in great abundance. 
As already stated, a casual glance might have inclined one to 
the belief that death in the case of the Benzoin had been sudden, 
but a more careful study of the parts above the girdled portion, 
and also of the fungus itself, proved that this was not the case. 
First, a study of the growth in length of the various shoots 
above the infection showed conclusively that this part of the plant 
had been laboring under some difficulty for a considerable period. 
This may be seen from the following table : 
TABLE I 
Comparative Length of Annual Growths on Diseased Portion 
1912 
8J4 inches 
I 9 , 3 
6 inches 
2 / 
XQ l 4 
inches 
10 
6 
3 
ti 
9 
4/2 “ 
2 / 
tf 
9 
1 1 “ 
5 H 
*( 
7 Vi “ 
4 
iH 
n 
8H “ 
6/ “ 
iVa 
a 
The shoots selected for these measurements represented the 
principal growths in length of this part of the plant, and in every 
instance but one they show a continually decreasing growth in 
length until death occurred in 1914. The growth of each shoot 
during 1914 was remarkably slight as compared with the normal 
growth of 1912, and the growth of 1913, except in one instance, 
shows a marked decrease. 
