22S 
NATURE NOTES 
to encroach upon its domain. The black-spored group of toadstools is, in 
Mr. Massee's opinion, the oldest, and in it poisonous principles and corroding 
substances are practically absent. In sequence of evolution come the purple, 
brown, pink, and white-spored groups, in which the poisons increase in number 
and potency, until in the last group they are most generally distributed. Mr. 
E. Salmon contributes a chapter on “ Biologic Forms,” dealing with those races 
of parasitic fungi which belong to the same species, and are indistinguishable 
excepting for the fact that each one will only grow on a certain species of plant 
(or its near allies). We have a case here which is parallel with that of gall- 
producing insects which are identical, but give rise to very different galls. When 
giving his personal views on the phylogeny of Fungi, Mr. Massee makes out a 
good case for their single (as opposed to multiple) origin from the Algae. 
Phyllactinia suffulta, a fungus having superficial mycelium which grows on 
the surface of the host-plant. I, a hazel leaf partly covered with the white 
mycelium of the fungus ; 2, fruit of the fungus furnished with spine-like, pro- 
jecting appendages ; 3, asci containing spores. All except fig. 1 mag. 
(From a “ Text Book of Fungi,” by the courtesy of Messrs. Duckworth.) 
In a most carefully written chapter in the second part, on “ Legislation and 
the Spread of Plant Diseases Caused by Fungi,” Mr. Massee estimates the 
annual loss throughout the world due to injuries to cultivated plants by parasitic 
fungi as exceeding ^150,000,000. He then expresses the opinion that this loss 
may be prevented or reduced, and proceeds to show the weak points in the 
legislation that has been applied to the case, and to make it clear to those who 
expect much from it that they will be disappointed. The third part of the book 
consists of a classification, with brief descriptions of the order and families of 
the Group, or as Mr. Massee dignifies it, Sub-Kingdom of the Fungi. 
