339 
Coprop hi lous Fit ngi . 
however, cannot be considered sufficient to separate the species from 
Sordarta, and it seems better, with Schroeter ( 1 . c.), to treat the dis- 
tinction as having a sectional value only within the genus. 
Griffiths (Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, xxvi, 438 (1899)) records a Sordaria 
under the name of S. pleiospora from the United States, but the 
characters given differ so much in important points from those of 
the present species that it seems very doubtful if S. pleiospora was 
really found. 
The spores are recorded by most authors as varying from 16-64, 
and Winter states that the latter is the highest number reached ; in 
our examples, however, asci containing 76 spores were observed. 
S. maerospora, Auersw. (Fig. 9). 
S. maerospora , Auersw., in Rab. Fung. Eur., nr. 954 ; Niessl. Beitr., 
p. 30, Tab. VI, f. 43 (1872); Wint., Deutsch. Sordar., 79, Taf. VII, 
f. 4 (1873); Wint. in Rabenh. Krypt.-Fl. Deutschl., Bd. i, Abth. 2, 
165 (1887) ; Schroet. in Cohn’s Krypt.-Fl. Schles., Bd. iii, Halfte 2, 
286 (1894). 
Hypocopra siercoris , Fckl., Symb. Myc. 241 (1869). 
H. maerospora , Sacc. Syll. Fung, i, 241 (1882). 
Perithecia black, gregarious or crowded, glabrous, semi-immersed 
or entirely superficial, -J-J- mm. in height, basal part subglobose 
narrowed upwards into a short bluntly conical neck, perithecial 
wall parenchymatous, cells 10-20 [x wide; asci elongate-cylindrical, 
210-300 x 18-30 n, tapering below into an evident stalk, apex rounded, 
thickened, 8-spored ; spores uniseriate, broadly obovate or oblong, 
rounded at the apical end, and acutely and minutely pointed at the 
basal end, 24-31 x 15-18 n, surrounded by a narrow layer of mucilage. 
Hab . — On dung of Hare (. Lepus europaeus) and Kangaroo ( Macropus 
giganteus). Kew, Dec. 1900. (Distrib.— Finland, Germany, Poland, 
N. Italy, on dung of Hare, Sheep, Mouse, Rabbit, Horse, and Cow.) 
S. maerospora is easily recognized by the peculiarly incrassate apex 
of the ascus and the broad spores minutely pointed at the basal end. 
The latter character, which has not apparently hitherto been noted, 
is found also in the spores of the closely related S. fimicola (Rob.), 
Ces. and De Not., which differs in the smaller, narrower spores, sur- 
rounded by a wider layer of mucilage. 
On Hare-dung the perithecia are more or less immersed, while 
on Kangaroo-dung they are entirely superficial. 
S. negleeta, Hans. (Fig. 15). 
