Fischer . — The Biology of Ar miliaria mucida , Schrader . 533 
Summary. 
1. Armillaria mucida can be grown saprophytically on various sub- 
strata : bread, dead beech wood and twigs, jellies of beer- wort, meat and 
malt extract, &c. 
2. The spores germinate at once and abundantly in water and prune 
juice as well as on the above media. 
3. The attempts to infect living beech wood failed, and no proof of its 
alleged parasitism can be preferred. 
4. The time elapsing between the sowing of the spores to the ripen- 
ing of the carpophores in pure cultures varied from 51 to 109 days. 
5. The sporophores produced in the pure cultures were identical 
with those found in nature on beech trees, but the average size was con- 
siderably less, and the spores too were somewhat smaller, but were 
nevertheless fully capable of germination. 
6. No secondary spore forms were obtained. 
7. Clamp connexions were observed. 
8. The fungus secretes enzymes which liquefy gelatine, dissolve starch, 
and reduce lignin to cellulose. 
9. The products of decomposition contain neither tannin nor oil. 
10. The preventive measures consist in occluding wounds on the 
trees with an antiseptic. 
11. The remedial steps involve the removal and destruction of diseased 
parts and of the sporophores before they reach maturity. 
I desire here to acknowledge the very great assistance I have re- 
ceived from Professors J. B. Farmer, F.R.S., and P. Groom, D.Sc., who 
suggested this research, and to express my sincere thanks for much 
kindly advice, many valuable suggestions, and a great deal of instruction 
tendered by them. My thanks are also due to Mr. M. Wilson, B.Sc., 
and to Mr. F. J. F. Shaw, B.Sc., for unfailing kind assistance. The latter 
gentleman also very kindly took the photograph reproduced as Fig. 23. 
Finally, I have to acknowledge the kindness of Dr. Somerville Hastings, 
F.R.C.S., who gave permission for the reproduction of two admirable 
photographs (Figs. 1 and 2) of A . mucida , which have already been pub- 
lished in Messrs. Gowans and Gray’s excellent booklet ‘Toadstools at 
Home \ 
Literature. 
1. Biffen : On the Biology of Bulgaria polymorpha. Annals of Botany, xv, 1901. 
2 . Brefeld, O. : Untersuchungen aus dem Gesammtgebiet der Mycologie, Heft viii, 1899, p. 54, 
3. ; Ibid., Heft xiv, 1908. 
4 . Buller, A. H. R. : The Biology of Polyporus squamosa. Journal of Economic Biology, i, 
part 3, 1906. 
O O 2 
