28 
Barclay —On the Life-history of 
several years, and during the last two years under special 
observation in my laboratory. In a Descriptive List of the 
Simla Uredineae 1 I referred the species provisionally to 
Puccinia Geranii silvatici , Karst., and, indeed, its general habit 
and morphological characters approach those of that species 
closely ; but a more minute and careful study of it convinces 
me that it is at any rate a very marked variety. 
The host is in full vegetative activity in March, and on the 
24th of that month (1889) I found numerous plants largely 
attacked in two localities especially though also elsewhere ; 
and very frequently a small area bearing many plants had 
every plant attacked, so that it was difficult to find one free. 
This led me to suspect that the spores were self- attacking, i. e. 
that the fungus was autoecious. Shortly -after this the host 
having flowered died out more or less completely, and the 
fungus was for a time entirely missed. But towards the end 
of June a new crop of the host springs up, on the setting in 
of the monsoon rains. I was surprised to find that in these 
two localities in which the fungus was very abundant in March 
and April, this new crop of Geranium plants was again as 
extensively attacked. The fungus thereafter continues to be 
met with until August, when it disappears for the year, not 
to reappear until the following spring. The whole cycle of 
development is then repeated. In each crop I looked carefully 
for the other usual spore-forms, and especially for uredospores 
and spermogonia ; but I could find no trace of either, and 
convinced myself that no other spore-form is developed by 
the fungus. 
(Expt. 1.) — On the 24th March I placed some spores of the 
first crop in water in a watch-glass, and also in a hanging 
drop of water in a closed cell. No germination ensued in the 
hanging drop ; but on the 28th (24 x 4 hours) I found that 
numerous spores in the watch-glass had thrown out promy- 
celia bearing sporidia. The promycelia were mostly aerial, 
and the spores which had become submerged did not 
1 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. Iviii. Pt. ii. No. 2, 1889. 
