349 
Coprophilous Fungi . 
20 X £,-6 n , surrounded at first by a narrow layer of mucilage, nearly 
straight, tetramerous, median cells subglobose, terminal cells subovate. 
Hab . — On Cow-dung, Kew, Jan. i^oi. (Distrib. — United States 
(New Jersey), on Cow-dung.) 
The Kew specimens are identical with authentic examples (coll. 
Ellis) of Sporormiella nigropurpurea in the Kew Herbarium. The 
genus Sporormiella was founded by Ellis and Everhart ( 1 . c.) with 
the following characters : ‘ Perithecia soft carnose, embedded in 
a flattish semi-immersed subcarnose stroma. Asci and sporidia as 
in Sporormia! Only the single species S. nigropurpurea of the 
same authors is known, and in this the perithecia are described as 
‘ buried in the soft flattish stroma, which is J-i cm. across, or by 
confluence more, slightly raised above the surface of the matrix, 
dark grey outside, and, like the perithecia, purplish black within/ 
A true stroma, however, such as is indicated by the above description, 
was not found either in Ellis’ New Jersey specimens, mentioned above, 
nor in the Kew examples; in both cases the soft carnose perithecia 
being only aggregated into continuous patches. It must be noted that 
the presence of a definite stroma is the only character relied upon to 
separate the present genus from Sporormia. Moreover, except in the 
dense grouping of the perithecia, and in the ascospores being usually 
biseriate instead of uniseriate, both the Kew and Ellis’ specimens agree 
so closely in all characters with Sporormia pulchella , Hans., that even 
the specific distinctness of the present plant seems almost doubtful. 
Mieroascns variabilis, sp. nov. (Fig. 24). 
Peritheciis gregariis matrice subimmersis parvulis 150-200 [i diam., 
subglobosis, ostiolo minuto papilliformi vel plus minus elongato cylin- 
draceo interdum flexuoso, nigris, subcarbonaceis, fragilibus, contextu 
parenchymatico e cellulis densis opacis distinctis minutis 3-5 /li latis 
composito, perithecii parte superiore pilis rigidis paucis sparsis fuligineis 
interdum obsoletis instructa, ascis minutis subglobosis subgelatinosis 
7-8 [x diam., citissime difiluentibus octosporis; sporis crasse (interdum 
irregulariter) lunulatis, minutis, 3-3-5 /Hongis, utrinque obtusis, levibus, 
dilutissime brunneis. 
Hab . — In firno Dolichotidis palachonicae (Patagonian Cavy), Kew, 
Jan. 1901. 
The above species seems to be allied to M. longiroslris, Zukal, but 
differs in the shorter or even obsolete neck of the perithecium, the 
much smaller asci, and the smaller spores, with obtusely rounded, not 
