Biffen—A Fat- Destroying Fungus. 369 
of which are only known at present in their conidial stages 
(e. g. Fusarium). For its further identification we require to 
know the colour of the ascospores, and of this we have, as yet, 
no evidence. If they are dark-coloured it belongs to the 
Melanosporeae ; if hyaline, yellow or red, to the Nectrieae 1 . 
In this connexion we may notice that Brefeld has shown 
that various species of Nectria reproduce by forms very 
similar to those already described. Nectria coccinea (Pers.) 
may serve as one example 2 . It forms microconidia and 
macroconidia, similar to, and in the same manner as, those of 
the Fungus described, while chlamydospores and pycnoconidia 
occur in N. sinopica (Fries) and other species. 
Sections through blocks of coco-nut endosperm infected 
a fortnight previously show that the mycelium has penetrated 
the tissues considerably, and that in a very characteristic way. 
In longitudinal sections the tissue appears to be broken up 
into alternating bands of a white and grey colour (Fig. 9). 
The white bands consist of unattacked tissue, the grey of 
attacked tissue. In transverse section the attacked portion 
appears as grey patches surrounded by the unattacked white 
portion. 
On staining with Delafield’s haematoxylin, the mycelium 
can easily be distinguished in the cells, especially if the 
sections are previously treated with chloroform to remove the 
large quantities of oil they contain. Each cell of the attacked 
portion is then seen to be crowded with the luxuriantly 
growing mycelium, which here and there forms dense knots 
owing to its having turned on itself on reaching the transverse 
wall of the cell (Fig. 10). The growth in a longitudinal 
direction is singularly constant for the first three, weeks ; 
then, however, numerous branches grow out at right angles 
and pierce the longitudinal cell-walls, sometimes in as many 
as twenty places in a single wall. In this way the first-formed 
bands of hyphae are united and a dense meshwork of my- 
celium is formed in the tissue. 
1 Lindau, 1 . c. 
2 Brefeld, 1 . c., p. 173, and Taf. iv, Figs. 23 and 24. 
