37 2 
Biffen.—A Fat- Destroying Fungus . 
in the young plant, on account of its having undergone further 
changes, probably into sugars. 
There is a great probability that this enzyme occurs as 
frequently in Fungi as in Flowering-plants. Thus fats are 
found in considerable quantities in many forms of spores, 
e. g. in the oospores and zoospores of the Chytridiaceae and 
Saprolegniaceae, in uredospores, &c., where they are without 
doubt a reserve store for the germinating spores to draw upon. 
Many Fungi contain large quantities of fat in the mycelium ; 
Lactarius deliciosus , e. g., contains 5*86 per cent., while those 
typical reserve-stores, the sclerotia, as a rule contain very 
considerable quantities, amounting in the case of Claviceps 
purpurea to 35 per cent. 1 
In many cases a large fat-content is abnormal, and due, 
as shown by Loew and Naegeli 2 , to fatty degeneration, but 
this can hardly apply to the cases mentioned. 
Then again we are acquainted with Fungi which grow 
exclusively on fat-containing bodies, such as Empusa 3 and 
Cordyceps spp. on animal remains, and Cyclonium oleaginum 4 
(Cast) and hizengaea asterosperma 5 (Borzi) on olive fruits. 
Others, such as P enicillium and Eurotium spp., though not 
necessarily restricted to growing on oil-containing substances, 
may often be found doing so. One frequently finds them, 
for instance, growing in the layer of sweet-oil placed over 
bottled fruits to prevent decomposition. These Moulds also 
attack cotton, rape, and other cakes made from the waste 
left after crushing oleaginous seeds for the oil they contain. 
Ritthausen and Baumann 6 have shown that a great loss of 
oil occurs when cakes are attacked in this way ; e. g. two 
samples of rape-seed cake containing 10-53 P er cen h and 8-5 
per cent, of oil contained after two years only 1-98 per cent, 
and 1-87 per cent, respectively when overrun by these Fungi. 
1 Zopf, Die Pilze, p. 138. 
2 Naegeli, Unters. iiber niedere Pilze, 1882. Zopf, ibid. 3 Brefeld. 
4 Brizi, Bot. Centrbl., Bd. lxii, p. 81. (Abstract.) 
5 Borzi, Bot. Centrbl., Bd. xxiv, p. 14. (Abstract.) 
6 Ritthausen and Baumann, Versuchs-Stnt., 1896, Bd. xlvii, p. 389. Reitmar, 
Versuchs-Stat., 1887, Bd. xxxviii, p. 373. 
