138 Baden.—Observations on the Germination of 
In some hanging-drop cultures of the Bacteria, rod-like forms appeared 
after about five days, and these always seemed to inhibit germination and 
development of the spores. The actual significance and function of these 
bacilli has so far not been worked out, owing to difficulties in staining 
and isolation. The characteristics of the two forms of Bacteria have not as 
yet been determined owing to the impossibility of isolating them in pure 
cultures. 
Germination of the spores is most vigorous at 30° C., so that the 
combined influences of warmth and the Bacteria seem to react favourably 
on the spores, and lead to their development. 
A few experiments were made on the connexion between the germina¬ 
tion of the spores of Mucor and Coprinus , since the two never germinate 
together, the one which first commences to develop apparently preventing the 
other from doing so at all. Mucor , being thinner walled, &c., is usually the 
one to attain the dominance, since it responds more quickly to the stimulus 
of moisture, &c. Hanging-drop cultures of Mucor and Rhizopus nigricans 
were made with and without the Bacteria, and showed peculiar results. 
Germination of these spores only occurred when the Bacteria were absent. 
This is contrary to what would naturally be expected, since it does not seem 
probable that the Bacteria should prevent the development of the Mucor 
spores, as they must both be present in the dung from the beginning. 
If there is any interdependence between the Coprinus spores and the 
Bacteria, then it is possible that the latter only develop to their full extent 
when the former are present, and vice versa, so that the Bacteria may 
produce something not altogether favourable to the germination of the 
Mucor spores. 
No reference can be found to any similar case of so close a connexion 
between the germination of Fungus spores and Bacteria. It is, however, 
a well-known fact that the spores of Myxomycetes will not germinate with¬ 
out Bacteria. Nadson ( 17 , p. 37) has worked on the development of 
Dictyostelium mucoroides , Bref., and finds that certain Bacteria are of great 
benefit to the spores. Molliard ( 16 ) found that certain Bacteria aid the 
development of the perithecia in Ascobolus. He says: ‘ J’ai pu me convaincre 
que c’est bien a une association du champignon avec la bacterie qu’il faut 
rapporter la formation abondante et hative des peritheces.’ He thinks these 
Bacteria assist the mycelium in producing ‘ une atmosphere confinee ’, which 
it is incapable of realizing alone. Falck ( 9 , pp. 1-3), after passing the spores 
of certain Basidiomycetes through the bodies of maggots, found they were 
covered with Bacteria, and had on that account to be examined very care¬ 
fully. He did not endeavour to find out whether the Bacteria had any 
influence on the germination, but it seems not unlikely that they would have 
reacted favourably on the spores, had they not been removed before he 
made any observations. Cutting (6, pp. 400-2) had great difficulty in 
