214 Fulton. — On the Dispersion of Fungi 
ing November it was found that in tubes 3 and 4 of series A 
a mycelium had sprouted, but not in any of the others. In 
December tube 3 was found lying empty on the surface, 
apparently thrown out by the burrowings of a mole, and its 
contents washed out by rain. In tube 4, however, the snowy 
white mycelium had increased in extent, ramification, and 
TABLE I. 
Contents of Tube. 
Series A. 
Series B. 
With Flies’ 
Excrements. 
Result. 
Without 
Flies’ 
Excrements. 
Result. 
» 
(b) Dead flies] 
1. Chopped beef 
2. Decaying leaves 
3. Rabbits’ dung 
4. Faecal matter 
„ „ only 
>> >> » 
>j » 
>> 
» >> 
No mycelium 
Do. 
Do. 1 
Do. 
Mycelium 
Do. 
1' „ „ 
2 ' ,, „ 
3 >> >> 
4 » » 
No mycelium 1 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
thickness 1 . Unfortunately, on re-examination in the following 
spring it was found to have died, and was dry, shrunk, and 
stained yellow. The crowning proof — the development of the 
hymenophore — is therefore wanting, but as the mycelium had 
exactly the appearance of that growing naturally and un- 
doubtedly belonging to Phallus impudicus , and since it did not 
appear in the corresponding tubes of series B, exposed to pre- 
cisely the same influences, but devoid of the sporiferous deposit 
of the flies, it can scarcely be doubted that it was the product 
of the spores contained in the latter substance, and that there- 
fore their passage through the digestive canal of the insects does 
not interfere with their vitality 2 . 
1 In tubes 1 and 1' a fine mould had developed, but not apparently in 4 and 4'. 
2 The mycelium developed in the above experiment was evidently formed by a 
combination of hyphae from many spores. It does not appear to have been pointed 
out that the origination of a new individual by the union of the products of spores 
derived from different individuals of the same species, serves among Cryptogams 
the same function as cross-fertilisation does among higher organisms. In both 
cases the new organism is generally the joint product of more than one individual. 
