» 
3 o F. Cavers — 
pointed out above, probably taken place in the Hippocrateaceae 
with (as far as our present ^knowledge goes) the omission of the 
type found in Eucommici. 
With regard to the possible function pertaining *o these 
caoutchouc-containing cells, which, as we have seen, occur so 
abundantly in certain groups, nothing can be said until an examin- 
tion of a number of living plants has been undertaken. The 
semi-solid condition of the contents does not admit of their being 
regarded as channels for the conveyance of food material. Possibly 
they may be of use in sealing up wounds after the manner of the 
resin-ducts of Conifers. 
ON SAPROPHYTISM AND MYCORHIZA IN HEPATICAE. 
By F. Cavers, Yorkshire College, Leeds. 
1 1HE occurrence of fungal hyphae in the tissues of Hepaticae 
appears to have been first described in detail by Leitgeb 1 , who 
observed that the young sporogonia of Ptilidium ciliare were fre¬ 
quently infested by the mycelium of a fungus. Leitgeb found that 
these sporogonia showed a different mode of segmentation from that 
usually observed in the Jungermanniaceae, and believed that this 
might be due to the presence of the fungus. In examining a 
considerable number of Hepaticae, the writer has several times 
observed sporogonia around and within which fungal hyphae were 
growing. The life-history of the fungus was carefully followed in 
the species of which living material was available, namely, Lopho- 
colea bidentata , Ceplialozia bicuspidata, Plagiochila asplenioides , and 
Radula complanata. The fungus-infested sporogonia are, as a rule, 
imperfectly developed and remain enclosed within the calyptra. 
The fungal hyphae usually enter the fertilised archegonium from 
above, growing down the neck-canal, but in some cases they pierce 
the venter and thus reach the young sporogonium directly. The 
infected sporogonia are, as a rule, imperfectly developed, showing a 
few irregular divisions and remaining abortive. In cases where 
development has proceeded as far as the differentiation of the 
capsule, the cavity of the latter is generally filled with a mass of 
interlacing hyphae, in which are embedded numerous small spherical 
bodies, which arise by abstriction from the hyphae and are therefore 
to be regarded as the conidia of the fungus. 
Leitgeb, Uiitersuckuiigen iiber die Lebermoose, Heft 2, p.58; 
Taf. 3, fig. 26. 
1 
