the Ascocarp in Monascus. 205 
ment it presents interesting resemblances to several types. 
Unfortunately there are but few instances in which the 
development of the ascocarp has been followed step by step 
from the earliest stages, so that the range of comparison is 
very limited. 
The archicarp is strikingly similar to the archicarp of cer- 
tain species of Peziza , e. g. Peziza scutellata as described by 
Woronin (29) : and in those instances in which the ascogonium 
curves spirally around the straight antheridial branch it recalls 
the archicarp of Penicillium — see Brefeld (3) — and many 
Gymnoascaceae. The young perithecia resemble the young 
perithecia of Sphaeria Lemaneae and Sordaria coprophila 
(30), and the similarity between the enlarged ascogonium 
of these forms and the developing central cell may also be 
pointed out. If the development of asci were to occur in the 
young perithecia of these forms, an ascocarp almost identical 
in structure with that of Monascus would result. 
The mature perithecium with spore-containing asci is some- 
what similar in structure to those of the Aspergillaceae and 
the multi-ascal Erysipheae. 
None of the Fungi just mentioned can be classed with it 
throughout the complete course of the development of the 
perithecium, the Pezizineae and the Sphaeriales separating 
themselves by the structure of the mature perithecium, and 
the Erysipheae and Plectascineae by the method of develop- 
ment of the ascogonium after fertilization. 
Its points of resemblance to so many widely separated 
groups of Ascomycetes are of particular interest when viewed 
in conjunction with the fact of the undoubted simplicity of 
the ascocarp in structure and development. 
There are several features which indicate the simplicity of 
the genus. One of the most noticeable is the want of dif- 
ferentiation and of specialization of the antheridial branch 
and the ascogonium, shown in so many anomalous cases. 
Under certain conditions any living cell of any hypha of the 
mycelium seems to be able to take on the functions of an 
antheridium, and the cell immediately beneath it to produce 
