FUNGI IN CHEESE RIPENING. IO09Q 
few basidia which bear long loosely divergent chains of conidia. 
Basidia 8-11 X2.4-3. Conidia at first cylindrical then elliptical 
and finally globose when ripe, smooth bluish-green by trans- 
mitted light, thin-walled and commonly guttulate, 4.5-5.5 
in diameter, swelling in germination to 8-10. Germ-tubes 
one to several. Cells of mycelium about 5 by 20-4op. Lique- 
fies sugar gelatine only under the center of the colony. Changes 
‘blue litmus to red strongly at first, then after four to six days 
begins to turn the red back to blue at the center and continues 
outward concentrically until all has become blue. Growing 
and fruiting period about two weeks. Fruits only upon exposed 
surfaces of the substrata—never produces spores in cavities not 
very broadly open. Habitat, Camembert and other soft cheeses. 
THE ROQUEFORT MOLD. 
The spores of the Roquefort mold grow very rapidly, often 
producing new mycelium and ripe spores within thirty-six 
hours. ‘The colonies are white at the very first but begin to 
become green at the center within two days in a rapidly grow- 
ing colony. Suchacolony may become a half inch in diameter 
in the first two days. The mycelium is mostly submerged 
but very close to the surface and grows rapidly outward from 
the starting point in a radial manner, which is rendered promi- 
nent by certain of the threads lying just under the surface 
for the most part, but making loops into the air by rising just 
above the substratum for a little way then reentering the 
medium. ‘This gives a greyish, almost cobwebby (arachnoid ) 
appearance to the margin of the young colony. ‘The rate of 
growth is not uniform in the circumference of such a colony, 
which makes the border of a colony uneven instead of regularly 
circular as most species appear. ‘The superficial portion of the 
Roquefort mold is almost entirely composed of the fruiting 
hyphae or conidiophores, the vast majority of which arise as 
branches of submerged hyphae and consequently stand sepa- 
rately as short unbranched threads of approximately equal 
length, which give the surface a velvety appearance. They 
are usually two or three tenths of a millimeter or less in length, 
say one seventy-fifth of an inch. Such a colony spreads in- 
definitely in the substratum so that the center will be composed 
of ripe fruit while the margin is still actively growing. In 
