47 
the spots; produced the disease in healthy lilies by sowing conidia in 
drops of water on their surface ; and finally saw the penetration of the 
germ-tube and the development of the mycelium within the tissues. 
This fungus is also capable of living as a saprophyte. Many inter¬ 
esting cultures were made, the most important discovery being that its 
mycelium secretes a ferment similar to that discovered by DeBary in 
JSclerotinia sclerotxorum and capable of dissolving cellulose. This fer¬ 
ment is frequently excreted from the hyphse ends in the form of small 
yellowish drops. When fragments of lily tissues are thrown into this 
liquid the cellulose walls become swollen and soft and the middle la¬ 
mella disappears. Pasteur’s solution, in which the fungus had been 
grown, produced the same effect, as did also water in which a mass of 
the mycelium had been bruised. Portions of the same solutions after 
two minutes’ boiling produced no effect whatever. Evidently the boil¬ 
ing destroyed or dissipated the active substance. By addition of alco¬ 
hol Professor Ward succeeded in obtaining a white flocculent precipitate 
which, when redissolved in water, produced the same effect as the ex¬ 
cretion itself. u The middle lamella? of all the parenchyma cells were 
destroyed and the cells isolated as if they had been boiled, while the 
cellulose walls swelled up and became distinctly lainellated and folded.” 
He believes this white precipitate consists chiefly of a ferment related 
to a zymase, but he has not been able to isolate it perfectly. To its 
presence the hyplrne ends owe their remarkable power of boring through 
cellulose walls, which he observed repeatedly. The wall in front of the 
advancing hypha becomes swollen, softened, and finally dissolved. The 
rapidity with which this takes place is sometimes remarkable. In one 
instance it was completed in 10 minutes, in another, in 30 minutes. He 
thinks the irritation of contact induces a more copious production of 
this ferment, the extrusion of which he observed in many instances 
where the hyphae ends touched the sides of flasks or the surface of slides 
and cover glasses. 
Another curious fact, often noticed, however, by other observers, was 
the anastomosing or conjugating of hypha). This was astonishingly 
frequent in cultures after the first two days, the mycelium becoming a 
perfect net-work by means of cross-connections. In some instances 
Professor Ward observed a hypha end move through an arc of more 
than 00 degrees for the purpose of uniting with another, and, as he re¬ 
marks, “it is difficult to avoid the impression that the two or more 
bodies concerned are attracting one another in some way.” He thinks 
the softening and disappearance of the hyphae walls to form such unions 
is due to the presence of the previously mentioned soluble ferment. 
He also inclines to believe that the softening of walls, due to the local¬ 
ization of this ferment in given portions of the mycelium, is what de¬ 
termines branching. This, however, is theoretical. Mere contact of 
hypha) does not always lead to their union, and it is suggested that 
this anastomosing may be the result of an effort “to equilibrate certain 
