New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 269 
rally retain certain quantities of this descending water, loaded 
with spores, suitable conditions for their germination were 
thus secured, from which infection could take place by the 
penetration of the mycelium into the axils or crotches of the 
vines. Of course, the saturated and warm atmosphere of 
the house was also very favorable by- permitting drops of 
water to remain even whole days at such places. 
Another spore form.—Around the nodal regions of some of 
the diseased vines are often darker fruiting bodies scattered 
among the brownish pycnidia, while a few regions were found 
having these black bodies alone. Only the older regions of 
diseased vines seemed to have the black fruiting bodies; for 
_example, when any were present they were always most 
numerous about the point of infection, while farther removed 
from that point the pycnidia exclusively occupied the substra- 
tum (Plate 1X). The vines having any of these darker fruit- 
ing bodies were either dead or in a dying condition when first 
observed. These black bodies are perithecia, containing subses- 
Sile to sessile, aparaphysate, cylindrical to clavate-cylindrical, 
eight-spored asci. They are very slightly imbedded in the host 
tissue as shown by hand sections, i. e., they are evidently erump- 
ent although finally nearly superficial. The perithecia are 
somewhat depressed-globular or inverted-top-shaped with their 
papillate apexes perforated by ostiola. They measure about 
100-165 », and the asci 45-58 p, 
Collection and separation of the two types of fruiting bodies. 
—A large quantity of material was collected, from the diseased 
portions of muskmelon vines in the greenhouse. Some specimens 
were dead and dry; others were from vines in a very much wilted 
and dying condition, while a few were taken from green, 
rather vigorous looking plants, It was only on the former 
two types of material that perithecia could be found. By 
going over all the collected material it was separated into two 
groups, one containing only pycnidia and the other from few 
to mostly perithecia. | 
