578 Dale . — Observations on Gymnoascaceae . 
and 6). After a while the hyphae at the ends of the strands 
separate from one another (Figs. 5, 7, and 8) and grow out 
into a flocculent mycelium like that grown on a drier 
medium. On this the fructifications arise. The plants grown 
under the latter conditions have a much longer period of 
vegetative growth and are much larger and stronger than the 
former. In fact the two types would not be taken for the 
same species they differ so greatly. 
So far as could be discovered none of the cultures of G. 
Reessii produced any conidia. 
The origin of the coils, which precede the formation of 
asci, takes place exactly as Baranetzky has described 1 and 
figured, and, although hundreds of sections were examined, 
no structures were seen like those described by Eidam 2 and 
by Brefeld 3 . In every case two branches arise from a single 
hypha, one on each side of a septum. These two branches 
grow upwards, at right angles to the hypha which bears them, 
and twist round one another once or twice. Their free ends 
swell up into club-shaped heads (Fig. 9), each of which now 
becomes cut off by a transverse wall as a separate cell 
(Fig. 10). The cells become very closely applied to one 
another, and soon the wall between them breaks down, and 
the two cells fuse. The fusion can be seen in specimens 
stained whole, but much more clearly in microtome sections 
(Figs. 11, 12, 26-29). At this stage there is usually no 
differentiation whatever between the two cells. But in some 
cases a differentiation may be noticed even before conjuga- 
tion. One cell, that called by Baranetzky the ‘ sterile cell/ 
is larger than the other, the ‘ ascogone ’ of Baranetzky. The 
sterile cell is almost straight, whereas the ascogone is longer, 
smaller in diameter, and is coiled round the sterile cell 
(Fig. 13). After conjugation the sterile cell grows larger 
and more spherical, so that the ascogone often comes to lie 
on its side, some distance from its apex (Fig. 14). The 
ascogone soon puts out a prolongation, which winds round 
the sterile cell (Figs. 13, 15, and 16). If the conjugating 
1 loc. cit. 2 loc. cit. (1). 3 loc. cit. 
