a Fungus causing a Disease of the Sugar-cane. 519 
portion of one containing hyphae was placed in the nutrient 
solution, and in three weeks conidia were present and the my- 
celium was as abundant as when grown from fresh material. 
As already stated, the external evidence — in the form of 
fruit — of the parasite is confined to the basal half of the cane, 
and the very delicate vegetative hyphae are difficult to ob- 
serve in the tissues. Nevertheless when internal portions of 
a diseased cane, taken from near the apex, are placed in 
a nutrient solution, care being taken to guard against the 
accidental introduction of conidia, the rapid growth of hyphae 
and eventual formation of macroconidia prove the presence of 
hyphae throughout the length of the cane. By this method 
the presence of the parasite was demonstrated near the apex 
of every cane sent for examination ; the accuracy of this 
method was proved by microscopic preparations made from 
portions of the pieces used for the flask-cultures. 
When a cane is first attacked by the fungus, the hyphae 
are only present in the elements of the bundles ; very soon, 
however, the hyphae extend to the fundamental tissue, at 
first travelling along the line of the middle lamellae and 
giving off numerous branches that enter the cells ; this is, so 
far as I have been able to observe, accomplished by passing 
through a pit in the wall : this point is, however, more readily 
seen in the case of the thick mycelium developed at a later 
stage, and will be afterwards described. 
The presence of actively growing hyphae in the tissues in 
the basal or older part of a cane is always indicated by 
a more or less clear red colour ; this, however, is not so marked 
in the upper and younger part of the cane when hyphae are 
present. This difference suggests the presence of some sub- 
stance capable of being acted on by the fungus in the lower 
and older part of the cane and absent from the upper and 
younger portion. Similar red blotches are produced by 
a fungus causing a sugar-cane disease in Java, which has in 
consequence received the name of Rood Snot 1 . The red 
1 Het Rood Snot ; Dr. Went, Mededeel. van het Proofstation West-Java, 
pp. 1-18, (1893) 2 pi. 
