760 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. V, No. 16 
and protein. The least adapted synthetic solution for this fungus 
(Raulin, 1869), could be made to yield pycnidia by the addition of lime, 
which probably counteracted the acidity; and pea cultures in which the 
mycelium was submerged and nearly dead could be made to grow and 
produce pycnidia by mere acidification. Furthermore, pea cultures to 
which sugar is added to balance the protein produce abundant pycnidia 
in the aerial hyphae. 
A consideration of the various laboratory media shows them to be 
rather purposeless, clumsy devices, in which this organism is overfed. 
Except the very simplest ones, none have warrant for existence if con¬ 
sidered from the point of view of adaptability for a specific purpose. 
The great similarity of results on the various media seems to require the 
conclusion that these foodstuffs are not specific. Any fruit or vege¬ 
table is a full nutrient for almost any organism if the material be made 
properly soluble, and any harmful acid or alkaline reaction or otherwise 
unfavorable concentration be adjusted. Probably any biological product 
can likewise be utilized. Our methods have made a fetish of variety and 
have completely neglected the contributing factors. 
As has been said, fungi behave alike in their relations to the substrata 
in the vast majority of cases. That the findings for this organism apfffy 
to others seems entirely probable. In many ways confirmatory evidence 
is to be found in the present practices. A certain medium is discovered 
which gives fruiting bodies for some fungus. A number of other organisms 
not at all related, in spite of differences in life relation, are also found to 
fruit upon this medium. 
A consideration of one of the best preparations devised for fruit-body 
formation is very interesting. Shear's corn-meal agar is made by stiffen¬ 
ing with agar the infusion obtained from four teaspoonfuls of corn meal 
(Shear and Wood, 1913). This medium is suitable for fructification for 
this organism, because it gives a scanty food supply, yet sufficient readily 
available to produce the growth necessary for pycnidium formation. 
The ratio of carbohydrate to protein is such that the reaction remains 
acid. Reasoning from such similar phenomena, a rather general applica¬ 
tion may be made. Any organism of this type can be made to grow and 
fruit upon a synthetic substratum containing the essential components, 
provided that the ratio of the components, hence the acid or alkaline 
reaction, and the concentration, be adjusted to the limits demanded by 
the particular organism. This assumes that the factors of light, tem¬ 
perature, aeration, etc., also fall within their own suitable limits. 
We have, therefore, within the reach of experimental work the possi¬ 
bility of developing an environment which can be so defined that it can 
always be duplicated, suitable for a great group of organisms (Thom, 
1910). With such a chemically and physically defined environment the 
classification of organisms could be placed upon a sounder working basis. 
