Fungus Cultures in the Tropics* 
(^Preliminary Notei) 
BY 
CARL HOLTERMANN. 
(With Plate I.) 
N the introduction to my Mycologische Untersuchungen 
aus den Tropen ” 1 have briefly indicated that during 
my first visit to Ceylon I was successful in discovering a 
nutrient substratum, which proved to be extremely favour- 
able for cultures of fungi. I am anxious, before proceeding 
to the publication of my recent work on the transpiration 
relations of tropical plants, to give an account of this, in the 
hope of thereby inciting others to test and further extend 
my mycological results. 
The nutritive solution which afterwards proved so useful 
to me was accidentally discovered. At the commencement 
of my tropical studies in 1895-96 I directed my attention^ 
in the first place, to the so-called Hemiascus fungi. Since 
these were, according to my supposition, to be especially 
looked for in the gummy excretions of trees, I allowed no 
opportunity to pass of making investigations in this direction. 
Excretion of gum from trees is a far more common pheno- 
menon in the tropics than with us. In it there is always a 
rich growth of bacteria and the lower fungi. In this 
respect the well-known sugar palms, Arenga saccharifera 
* “ Pilzkulturen in den Tropen,” translated by J. C. Willis at the 
author’s request. 
[Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeiiiya, Vol. I., Pt. II., December, 1901.] 
