THE CYTOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF VENTURIA 
INEQUALIS (COOKE) WINTER 
Charles N. Fret 
Introduction 
During the last century our present conceptions of the nature 
and habits of the fungi have been developed. Fries 1819-22 began 
the systematic classification of the fungi. De Bary (1853) and 
Kiihne (1856) demonstrated the parasitic nature of the fungi and 
laid the foundation of modern pathology. Pasteur (1858-60), 
Raulin (1869-70) and Nageli (1882) studied the nutrition of fungi. 
In 1791 Bulliard described the asci as female organs. He believed 
that the asci were fertilized by the bursting of the paraphyses. 
It was de Bary (1863), however, who first studied and described 
the sexual organs of the fungi and observed fertilization. His 
critical observations form the basis of our knowledge as developed 
at the present time. De Bary (1863-70) discussed the origin of 
the fungi, the function of the archicarp and antheridium, which he 
considered as functional sex organs, and designated the ascus 
a spore mother cell. He believed that the archicarp should be re¬ 
garded as the female sex organ and the antheridium as the male 
and that there occurred a material union of a male cell, or a part 
of its protoplasm and nuclear content, with a cell of the archicarp. 
Prom the archicarp the ascogenous hyphae originated, the latter 
developing the ascus which he designated a spore mother cell. 
According to de Bary it is possible that the lines of descent for the 
Ascomycetes came from divergent forms. The two groups, the 
Phycomycetes and Ascomycetes, converge, the Mucorineae and Pero- 
nosporeae of the former being comparable to Eremascus among the 
Ascomycetes. Due to the insufficient knowledge of his time de 
Bary concluded the relationship and phylogeny of the higher fungi 
would remain in doubt until further research establishing more 
definite evidence as to their origin and character. He was struck 
by the similarity between the sex organs of the Plorideae and the 
