169 
spores which might have been shaken from the feet and proboscides 
of the flies and have not traversed the digestive canal. From the con¬ 
nection it might naturally be supposed that no attempts were made. 
Turning from a determination of the fact experimentally, the author, 
first making the statement that “it seems very probable that most all 
of those fungi whose spores’ are ultimately contained in a slimy or 
liquid substance of dark color, especially if of a fetid odor, and which 
is freely accessible, will be found to have their spores largely transported 
by the agency of insects,” takes up the British Coprini , pointing out 
the superficial resemblance of their sporophores to the compound flow¬ 
ers of certain Compositec and calling attention to the fact, in connection, 
that flies are alike the principal visitors of the flower and the fungus. 
The Phalloidei , which to the author present the most striking adap¬ 
tations to insect visitations, occupy considerable space in the pajier, 
short tabulated descriptions—color, odor, habitat, and dimensions—of 
59 species being contained. The summary from these descriptive tables 
shows that the color of the receptacle during the deliquescence of the 
hymenium in more than half of the species is some tint of red, and in 
the remainder, white; these colors occurring in 91 per cent, of the 59 
species. Table IV gives the colors of more than a thousand species of 
fungi, other than Phalloidei, and reveals the fact that while 91.5 per 
cent, of the latter are either red or white, only 20.1 per cent, of other 
fungi are so colored, the great majority being brown, slate, or black— 
colors scarcely represented in the former group. The bearing of these 
data upon the author’s inference that the brilliant tints of the Phal¬ 
loidei have been developed to render them conspicuous is quite pointed, 
and when taken in connection with his last table—which is a compari¬ 
son of 4,197 species of flowers with 59 Phalloidei and 1,283 other fungi 
—becomes doubly so. Table V shows that while only 73 per cent, of 
flowers and 24.7 per cent, of other fungi are white, red, or yellow— 
colors found by experiment to be the most conspicuous in wooded locali¬ 
ties where fleshy fungi grow—9G.6 per cent, of the Phalloidei are so 
colored. 
In regard to the odor, determined in the case of 25 species, 76 per 
cent, were fetid. When this proportion is compared with that of odor¬ 
ous to inodorous flowers—9.9 per cent, determined from 4,189 species— 
and taken in connection with the numerous facts just mentioned, the 
author is warranted in concluding that “inthe Phalloidei it can scarcely 
be doubted that we have a group of fungi which have undergone great 
modifications so as to become adapted for the dispersion of their spores 
by the agency of insects.”— D. G. Fairchild. 
Girard, Alfred. Entomogenous Fungi. Bulletin Scientifique de la 
France et de la Belgique. January-April, L889. 
This number contains three valuable and practical articles on Ento¬ 
mogenous fungi. The first, entitled ( Sorosporella agrotidis , nov. gen. 
