conjluens and the Morphology of the Ascocarp . 395 
point. The number of chromosomes must be first determined 
in both vegetative and reproductive cells at all stages. As 
a contribution in this line I have attempted to count the 
visible number of chromosomes on the spindles in a large 
series of nuclei in the divisions in the ascogenous hyphae 
just prior to ascus-formation, and also in the asci themselves. 
The figures are so small and the chromosomes so crowded 
that it is extremely difficult to get satisfactory results. The 
chromosomes overlap and are bunched in many cases so that 
neither polar nor side views reveal the exact number with 
certainty. The larger nuclei in the first division in the ascus 
are by far the most favourable for this work, and I am of the 
opinion from a study of a large series of cases that there are ten 
chromosomes present at this stage. In Peziza Stevensoniana 
I was able to determine that their number is not changed in 
the three divisions in the ascus, and I am of the opinion that 
the same is true for Pyronema , though the smaller size of the 
nuclei in the second and third divisions here makes them much 
less favourable objects of study. 
As to the number of chromosomes shown in the division 
in the ascogenous hyphae I am uncertain. As is seen from 
Figs. 25-28 the visible number of chromatin granules on 
the spindle is variable. This is doubtless due to massing of 
the individual chromosomes in some cases and to the fact 
that they may lie vertically above one another in the spindle. 
It is also difficult to determine in many cases whether the 
separation of the daughter-chromosomes in the equatorial 
plate has taken place. Polar views do not seem much more 
favourable for determining the number than do side views of 
the spindle as will be seen from the upper nuclei in Figs. 
27 and 28 . All the Figs. 25-28 have been drawn with 
great care to show exactly the number of granules visible in 
each case. I am inclined to the view that the same number, 
that is ten, is present here as in the divisions in the ascus 
described above. Whether this is the double number which 
results from the fusion in the oogonium, or whether reduction 
has already taken place is uncertain. I have already pointed 
