Observations on Hirneola Auricula-judae Berk. 131 
walls which are gradually eaten up. Staining at this stage shows 
patches of wood entirely delignified among patches still exhibiting 
the presence of lignin, the whole appearance being that of a very 
inartistic mosaic. Schulze’s solution is very convenient for reveal¬ 
ing the action of the fungus, but Cotton Red and Aniline Blue are 
more effective, because they stain the hyphae blue and allow one 
to observe more closely the delignification in relation to the presence 
of the fungus. From an investigation of twigs affected by the 
fungus in nature the ultimate result is seen to be that the whole 
tissue becomes spongy, crumbles when rubbed with the finger, and 
consists as much of the hyphas as of the original tissue of the tree. 
Fig. 9. Longitudinal section of Elder twig infested by the fungus, from 
nature. Walls of vessels delignified and in places entirely eaten up by 
mycelium, X 600. 
Inoculations of Elder Bushes with the Fungus. 
This part of the experiments have been carried out at St. 
Edmund’s House, Cambridge, by kind permission of the Master, 
the Rev. T. L. Williams. Inoculations with mycelia and spores 
have been made in living branches of Elder bushes by making 
T-shaped cuts in twigs of the thickness of a finger and enclosing in 
them by means of a platinum needle, a few threads of mycelia, or 
in other instances a drop of sterilized distilled water containing 
spores in suspension. The wounds were then protected with tin foil. 
