254 Dawson.—On the Biology 
coil, may be seen numerous other groups of hyphae, of a 
similar character, but apparently empty and somewhat less 
closely interwoven. These probably represent one of two 
things :— (a) very young stages of perithecia before the forma¬ 
tion of Woronin’s hypha ; or, (b) abortive perithecia, which 
will never come to maturity. 
Having regard to the large number of young stages always 
present in young stromata, compared with the number of 
mature perithecia scattered over ripe stromata, it seems 
very probable that very many such coils are abortive, possibly 
owing to lack of food-material for the formation of such large 
numbers of perithecia and asci, the competition of the success¬ 
ful perithecia, which attract all the supplies, being too much 
for them. 
On the other hand, the question arises whether the coil 
always develops from a definite hypha, which grows up from 
the main body of the stroma, and after coiling up continues 
its growth on towards the surface, and as a result of this 
coiling the neighbouring hyphae grow round and invest it—as 
seems to be the case—or whether the knot of smaller hyphae 
is sometimes at any rate formed first, and the Woronin’s coil 
developed within this afterwards. 
By more active growth of the investing hyphae on the 
upper side of the Woronin’s coil, the young perithecium 
gradually loses its circular form and becomes pear-shaped. 
At this stage the coil is still apparent (Fig. 21), but as the 
upper part of the perithecium becomes more and more 
enlarged, the coil appears to be broken up into its component 
cells, and ere long we find a stage in which the body has 
become quite pear-shaped, though still lying some distance 
below the surface, and has the narrower upper portion lined 
with delicate undivided hyphae—the periphyses—whilst at 
the base is a group of stouter deeply stained hyphae, presum¬ 
ably the remains of the coil, and now representing the young 
ascogenous hyphae (Fig. 23). By the continued growth of 
the lateral hyphae of the perithecial wall, possibly aided by 
the solvent action of some of them, a cavity is produced 
