ZOOLOGY AMD BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
493 
“Pourridi6” of the Vine.*— M. P. Viala has followed out the life- 
history of Dematophora necatrix, the cause of the disease of the vine 
known as pourridie , and the mycele of which constitutes various kinds 
of “ rhizomorph.” It produces its conidial form only on the organs of 
the vine which it has destroyed, and on which it carries on a saprophytic 
life. In addition, the author was able, by varying the method of culture, 
to produce the peritheces which had not previously been observed, and 
which are formed only on dry soil at least six months after the formation 
of the conids. The asci are filiform, and contain eight ascospores. 
M. Viala regards Dematophora as forming a distinct genus of Tuberacese, 
the first genus of the order in which the formation of conidiophores has 
been observed. 
New Disease of Pine Trees, f — M. E. Mer has had his attention 
called to a large number of fir trees, in which the last four or five shoots 
of some of the branches had completely dried up or perished. This 
was due to the attacks of a fungus, the pycnids of which show con- 
siderable resemblance to those described and figured by Saccardo under 
the name of Dothiorella pythia. The author hopes to meet with spermo- 
gones or peritheces in a state of maturity in order to give a more exact 
determination and a complete description of the parasite. 
Sphseropsideae and Melanconieae4 — Herr A. Allescher describes a 
large number of fungi from South Germany belonging to these orders, 
including six new species belonging to the genus Actinonema , all found 
on the leaves of various trees and shrubs, usually in a fallen but still 
living condition ; also two new species of Pestalozzia . 
Podaxis.^ — From an examination of specimens of Podaxis indica , from 
South Africa, Mr. G. Massee assigns this genus of Fungi to the Ascomy- 
cetes, removing it from the family Podaxineae of Gastromycetes. It closely 
resembles in appearance a long-stalked puff-ball. The glebe is, however, 
destitute of the sinuous cavities and well-defined tramal plates charac- 
teristic of the Gastromycetes, presenting from its earliest appearance a 
sponge-like structure. The thin-walled colourless hyphse which form 
the irregular walls of the glebe put out numerous long lateral branches, 
which are the ascogenous hyphae. The asci are lateral outgrowths from 
these, at first papillaeform, but afterwards cut off by a septum, and are 
densely crowded ; each contains a single ascospore, or less often two, 
which escape from the ascus through a lateral slit. Some species 
(P. Emerici) appear also to produce basidiospores homologous with the 
normal asci. The different species further present a differentiation in 
the presence or absence of a capillitium. 
The author regards the entire group of Gastromycetes as having 
sprung from the Tuberaceae, one line of evolution having been through 
the genera Elaphomyces, Podaxis, and Tulostoma. 
Nutrition of Oidium albicans. || — MM. G. Linossier and G. Roux 
find that free oxygen is absolutely indispensable to the growth of this 
* Comptes Rendus, cx. (1890) pp. 156-8. 
t Bull. Soc. Bot. France, xxxvii. (1890) pp. 38-48. 
X SB. Bot. Ver. Miinchen, March 10, 1890. See Bot. Centralbl., xlii. (1890) 
pp. 42 and 74. § Journ. of Bot., xxviii. (1890) pp. 33-9, 69-77 (2 pis ). 
11 Comptes Rendus, cx. (1890) pp. 355-8. Cf this Journal, ante , p. 220. 
