136 Baden.—Observations on the Germination of 
to germinate the spores of coprophilous Basidiomycetes. He passed some 
spores through the bodies of maggots to see if this would have any effect on 
their germination, but it did not. Blackman and Fraser ( 1 , p. 355), 1906, 
failed to germinate spores of Humaria granulata in nutrient solutions, the 
same difficulty being experienced by Fraser ( 10 , pp. 350-1) with the spores 
of Lachnea stercorea . Germination only took place after the spores had 
been passed through various digestive fluids. Schmidt (20, pp. 73-5), 
1912, working on the propagation of the coprophilous Fungi, found in the 
case of many .Phycomycetes and Ascomycetes that a certain temperature 
was necessary for the germination of the spores. Above this temperature 
(40°-42° C.) germination would only occur when certain chemical reagents 
were also used. He was unable to germinate the spores of some genera of 
Ascomycetes at all. From the above evidence it is seen that a general 
difficulty has been experienced in the germination of the spores of copro¬ 
philous Fungi. 
Material. The material for the following work was obtained on cultures 
of horse-dung, which were set out at regular intervals to ensure a continuous 
supply in the laboratory. 
The species of Coprinus used for these observations was submitted to 
Mr. A. D. Cotton, of the Kew Herbarium, for identification. He named it 
Coprinus sterquilinus , Fr., belonging to the ‘comatus’ section. The 
blackening of the apex of the stalk with age is a characteristic feature. The 
species possesses a ring, and before opening resembles a very slender 
comatus in form. The above is quoted from Mr. Cotton’s description. 
This species only appeared during the winter months on cultures kept 
at 25 0 C. and 30° C., but it grew equally well at all temperatures from 
15 0 C. to 30° C. throughout the summer. 
The germination of the spores. Several attempts were made to germi¬ 
nate the spores in different nutrient solutions, those suggested by Kuster 
( 12 , pp. 114-45) as particularly suitable for the germination of Coprinus 
spores being tried, but without success. Fraser’s method of digesting the 
spores was then followed exactly as given below, and germination took 
place ( 10 , pp. 350—1). Spores were placed successively in: 
1. Saliva. 
2. Gastric juice (a few drops of liquor pepticus of Bengerin 0*2 per cent. 
aqueous solution of HC 1 ). 
3. Pancreatic juice (one part ofBenger’s liquor pancreatus to two parts 
of 1 per cent, aqueous solution of sodium carbonate). 
4. Liquid extract of horse-dung. 
The spores were left in each of the first three fluids for three hours, and 
in the last for fourteen to eighteen hours at 39 0 C. They were then placed 
in a temperature of 25 0 C. 
Brefeld ( 2 , pp. 14-16) was able to germinate the spores of Coprinus 
