6 Setchell. — An Examination of the Species 
notched appearance becomes more and more pronounced, 
until there are formed several distinct branches, all attached 
in a bunch at the tip. These are the sporidia (Figs, n and 12). 
The sporidia, when mature, separate, spreading apart from 
one another, and radiating out from the tip of the now fully 
developed promycelium (Figs. 13 and 14). 
The promycelium in D. alismatis is long and slender, 40 /x 
to 50 /x long, 3 /x to 4 /x in diameter, and blunt at the tip. The 
sporidia vary from five to seven, are more or less fusiform, and 
measure 20 /x to 28 /x in length by about 2 /x in breadth at the 
middle. They possess very granular contents, with several 
large globular oil-drops regularly distributed (Fig. 14). 
As the sporidia are developed, the contents of the promy- 
celium are gradually withdrawn and septa are formed as this 
takes place (Figs. 12 to 14). These septa are of common 
occurrence in other species of the Ustilagineae, and are espe- 
cially mentioned by De Bary for species of Entyloma (Bot. 
Zeit., Bd. 32, p. 89, 1874), and by Woronin for Tuburcinia , 
Entyloma , and others (Beitr. z. Kennt. d. Ust., 1882). Usually 
the contents of the promycelium are not entirely withdrawn, 
but a .Tiort stump is left at the top still filled with protoplasm 
even after the sporidia are finally separated from it. At this 
stage the slightest agitation of the water in which the germina- 
tion is going on, is sufficient to detach these stumps with their 
crowns of sporidia from the emptied portion of the promy- 
celium. The same thing happens in Tuburcinia according to 
Woronin ( 1 . c., p. 11, Taf. II, Figs. 2 to 6), who calls this 
stump { the basidial cell,’ and says that, as far as he knows, 
it is unknown in other species with the Title tia-type of ger- 
mination. 
The sporidia begin to germinate in many cases while still 
attached to the basidial cell (Figs. 15 to 18). A view where 
the sporidia have fallen from the basidial cell will show the 
details of the process more plainly (Figs. 19 to 21). It will 
be seen that the sporidia have conjugated at the base in pairs. 
Where there are six sporidia, there are three pairs, and all the 
sporidia have conjugated (Fig. 19); but where there are five 
