ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
(537 
it as a Botrytis , and describes it as a new species under the name 
Botrytis Acridiorum. 
M. C. Bronguiart * * * § has further examined the parasite, and finds that 
it produces spores of two kinds. He has cultivated the fungus success- 
fully, and believes that it may be found a very useful check on the spread 
of the grasshopper. 
Hypogaei of Germany .f — Dr. R. Hesse publishes a monograph of the 
German species of Hymenogastrese, Elaphomycetes, and Tuberaceae, 
numbering about forty species, of which about thirty are not at present 
known elsewhere. They are found most abundantly on ground covered 
with trees, some species being parasitic on their roots. 
Basidiomycete parasitic on Grapes.J — MM. P. Viala and G. Boyer 
describe a basidiomycete parasitical on the grape, belonging to the group 
Hypochneae ; and the authors create for it a new genus Aureobasidium , 
the characters being founded on the filamentous hymenium, the arrange- 
ment of the basids, and the form, coloration, and variation in the number 
of the spores. The malady developes during wet years, especially in the 
months of September and October, when the grapes are nearly ripe, and 
the first appearance of A. Vitis is in the form of small dull spots. 
Protopliyta. 
a. Schizopliycege. 
Dictyosphserium, Botryococcus, and Porphyridium. § — Prof. A. 
Borzi publishes a contribution to our knowledge of the structure of 
Bictyosphserium Ehrenbergianum. The characteristic gelatinous colonies 
originate from special spherical cells, which, inclosed in thin amorphous 
gelatin, form small colonies of the type of Palmella. These colonies 
become rapidly disintegrated, and the cells, when isolated, undergo a 
process of rapid vegetative multiplication, the division taking place in 
two directions only. In this way the reniform cells which bear a close 
resemblance to Nephrocytium are formed. The colonies subsequently 
become spheroidal by division in three directions. Each of these then 
divides by two successive bipartitions into four portions, connected 
together by a slight basal attachment. This attachment subsequently 
divides into four pieces, each of which becomes a kind of stalk to one of 
the four young colonies. The chromatophore of the cell of Dictyo- 
sphserium is not parietal, but central, and contains a polygonal pyrenoid. 
The author regards the above details as showing an affinity between 
Bictyosphserium , Schizochlamys , and Tetraspora , which constitutes the 
family Prasiolace8e.|| 
Botryococcus Braunii the author regards as probably a stage of 
development of Mischococcus confervicola while B. terricola Klebs 
appears to belong to an entirely distinct genus. 
Experiments on the cultivation of Porphyridium cruentum were not 
* Comptes Rendus, cxii. (1891) pp. 1494-6. 
f ‘ Die Hypogseen Deutschlands,’ Lief. i. and ii., 4to, 32 pp. and 4 pis. See Bot, 
Centralbl., xlvi. (1891) p. 228. Cf. this Journal, ante , p. 230. 
X Comptes Rendus, cxii. (1891) pp. 1148-50. 
§ La Nuova Notarisia, ii. (1891) pp. 367-82. || Cf. this Journal, 1889, p, 793, 
