or CERTAIN SPILERIACEOUS FUNGI. 
551 
regular asci, immense numbers of the bodies drawn in fig. 23, Plate XXVI. These 
bodies are shaped like the spores in the genus Gryptosjiori'iim^ and if the perithecia ])i’o- 
ducing them had existed singly, or if a number of perithecia in one group had pro- 
duced nothing but similar bodies, the plant would have had to be classed with the 
Cryptosporia and not with the Sphserire. But in the specimens upon which my observa- 
tions were made, the same stroma produced contiguous perithecia, of which some pro- 
duced the regular asci and sporidia, others the Cryptosporium fructification. The origin 
of the latter is, I think, sufficiently obvious : it seems to arise from an arrest of growth 
taking place in the asci, by which not only do the latter not acquire their usual size, 
but the endochrome, instead of breaking up into separate portions and forming sporidia, 
remains united in one mass which is uniformly distributed through the ascus. The real 
nature of these bodies must depend upon whether they possess the power of germina- 
tion, a fact which I have not yet ascertained. If they have such power, they would 
rank as real fruit ; if not, then they must be regarded simply as abortive productions, 
worthy of notice only from their resemblance to the spores of a distinct genus. 
2. Sphceria landfoiinis, Fr., and Hendersonia p>olycystis, B. & Be. — There is, as I 
have stated above, a prevalent opinion amongst mycologists, to the effect that certain 
Fungi, including those of the genus Hendersonia^ are only Sphserioe in an imperfect con- 
dition. The species just mentioned {Hendersonia piolycystis) was first described by 
Messrs. Berkeley and Broome in their notices of British Fungi in the ‘ Annals of 
Natural History,’ and it may be found figured, though under a different name {Myxo- 
cyclus confiuens)^ by Fresexius in his ‘ Beitriige zur Mykologie.’ It is remarkable for 
the beauty of its spores, which are club-shaped, multicellular, and of a deep olive- 
brown colour, with the exception of the pedicel-cell, which is hyaline and colourless : 
the spores are sm-rounded by a broad gelatinous margin and usually grow singly, but 
occasionally (as is shown in fig. 24) one pedicel serves as a support to two spores. The 
double spore in fig. 24 is magnified 415 diameters. 
The plant grows upon Birch and is in perfection in very moist weather, when it may 
be easily recognized by the large, black, soft, gelatinous protuberances on the bark, 
formed by spores escaping and depositing themselves upon and about the apex of the 
perithecium. This Hendersonia I suspect to be an abnormal state of a well-known 
Sphseria {Sphceria lanciforniis), which also grows upon Birch, and upon Birch only. 
The regular fruit of this Sphseria (see fig. 25) consists of asci having eight large, 
elliptical, dark olive-brown sporidia, of an average length of about inch ; 
the sporidia are fm’nished with several septa, and when seen under the microscope are 
very beautiful objects. Fig. 25 is magnified 315 diameters. 
In the first place, the sporidia of Splioeria lanciformis are apt to assume irregular 
forms. Some of the irregular forms are shown in fig. 26 {a-e) and fig. 27, amongst 
which it will be observed that the spore (e), fig. 26, which occurred singly in an ascus, 
bears considerable resemblance to the fruit of Hendersonia polycystis. It is true that it 
is not divided by longitudinal as well as transverse septa ; but that this is not a safe mark 
4 c 2 
