628 
Duller .— The Function and Fate of the 
species of Coprimes which open out like parasols, such as C. plicatilis , C. pli - 
catiloides , C. ephemeras , and C. Friesii. It seems probable that auto-digestion 
to a greater or less extent, beginning at the gill-edges, is a general character 
of the Coprini. 
In the Coprini the gills are (i) relatively very thin, and (2) parallel¬ 
sided, whereas in fruit-bodies of the Mushroom type the gills are (1) relatively 
very thick, and (2) have their sides inclined to one another like the sides of 
a penknife. In the Coprini the ripening and discharge of the spores from 
below upwards on each gill, and the gradual auto-digestion of the spore-free 
portions of the gills from below upwards, are to be regarded as adaptations 
which permit of successful spore-liberation from parallel-sided gills. In 
wedge-shaped gills, such as those of Psalliota campestris , there is no need 
for the spores to ripen and be discharged from below upwards and for auto¬ 
digestion, since the hymenial surfaces are so arranged in nature that they 
look slightly downwards. 
In Inocybe asterospora the cystidia which excrete drops of mucilage 
from their free ends do not undergo auto-digestion like those of Coprimes , 
but persist during the whole period of spore-discharge. They are, however, 
too short to form obstacles to the escape of the spores in normally oriented 
fruit-bodies. Their function has not been determined, but does not appear 
to be a mechanical one. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATES L AND LI 
Illustrating Prof. Bailer’s paper on the Cystidia of Coprimes. 
PLATE L. 
Figs, all of Coprimes atramentarius. 
Figs. 1-4. Stages in the development of the fruit-body as shown by vertical sections. 
Fig. 1. Section of a young fruit-body in which the pileus is opening out. The spores, as is 
indicated by the shading on the gills, are ripening from below upwards. Spore-discharge and auto¬ 
digestion have not yet begun. The flesh is thin and the gills very broad, c-d , the direction in 
which the section shown in Fig. 5 was cut; r, the region from which the piece of gill sketched in 
Fig. 6 was taken. Natural size. 
Fig. 2. Section of another and older fruit-body. The spores are still ripening from below 
upwards on the gills. Spores are being shed and auto-digestion is taking place along the gill-edge 
at a. The broken lines show the shape and extent of the gills at the moment auto-digestion began. 
s, lower edge of the gill where spore-discharge and subsequently auto-digestion first became active. 
Natural size. 
Fig. 3. Section of a still older fruit-body, the pileus of which has become helmet-shaped through 
expansion. The gills have now become reduced by auto-digestion to about one quarter of their 
original size, a, edge of gill where spore-liberation and auto-digestion are still in progress. 
Natural size. 
Fig. 4. Section of a fruit-body in the last stage of its development when spore-liberation has 
ceased. The gills have now entirely disappeared. The central part of the pileus flesh still crowns 
the stipe. Natural size. 
