the A scocarp in Monascus. 233 
primitive form. For similar reasons the ancestor of the 
Ascomycetes possessed probably the same characters, but no 
known member of the group now possesses these characters 
in an unaltered form, Monascus being the simplest as far as 
fertilization is concerned, and Dipodascus and Eremascus as 
far as the behaviour of the egg. The dividing line between 
the two groups seems to have originated by the development 
of the oospore stage on the one hand and the development of 
the ascospore stage on the other. 
The probable origin of the coenogamete from gametangia, 
and the retention of zoosporangia in many Oomycetes, afford 
a link with the lower Algae. 
The resemblances which have been pointed out between the 
Florideae and certain Ascomycetes by various authors may be 
explained by supposing the origin of the former from the 
same Algal ancestor, a somewhat parallel method of evolution 
having occurred from that form. 
Certainly for most Ascomycetes there seems to be no reason 
for looking back for their origin to a simpler form than that 
represented by Albugo Bliti in those characters which have 
just been pointed out. 
In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to 
Professor Marshall Ward for much valuable help and advice, 
and also for permission to carry on the work in the Cambridge 
University Botanical Laboratory ; to Miss Dale for information 
on the genus Gymnoascus, as yet unpublished; and to Messrs. 
D. T. Gwynne-Vaughan and R. H. Yapp for the material and 
for information concerning its economical use. 
