488 Harper—Nuclear Phenomena in the Smuts. 
Before discussing further the significance of such fusions, it 
will be interesting to bring together other facts regarding cell 
fusions where no fertilization in the ordinary sense of the term 
can be assumed to exist. Observations of this sort are recorded 
quite abundantly in the literature, and it is of interest to bring 
them together for purposes of comparison and the determination 
of their significance in the light of modern theories of sexu¬ 
ality. 
One of the familiar cases is that of fusion of the germ tubes 
of spores so that several spores combine at once in forming a 
mycelium. Beinke’s figure, 1 in which the germinating conidia 
of Nectria solani are shown uniting their germ tubes in a com¬ 
mon system, is a familiar example. The behavior of the nuclei 
here is unknown and should be investigated, but there is cer¬ 
tainly no reason for supposing that this is a sexual union. The 
fusion results in a larger germ tube than could be produced by 
any one of the spores singly, and hence the chances that the 
young mycelium may reach a favorable substratum for its de¬ 
velopment may be supposed to be increased. It is evident that 
in this case the fusion was accomplished without especial re¬ 
duction in volume of the units which combine and indicates 
clearly the possibility of this sort of aggregation on the part of 
independent cell units. They are, though each is capable of 
producing an entire mycelium independently, able to combine, 
giving up their independent individuality in order to produce 
a single larger mycelium, which may have a better chance of 
reaching a substratum favorable for further development. 
Whether this fusion is customary in the development of germi¬ 
nating spores, or whether it only occurs when the nutrient me¬ 
dium in which germination occurs is poor in nutriment for the 
fungus, should be investigated more fully. It is also unknown 
whether the mature mycelium produced from such a series of 
spores is larger and stronger than that produced from a single 
spore, the conditions of nutrition being the same. We can sim¬ 
ply say that the process seems to show clearly the possibility 
of a combination of cells for the sake of the advantage of size 
in reaching a source of food. 
1 DeBary Morph., Phys., und Biol. d. Pilze , Mycetozoa, u. Bacteria , 
P. 2. 
