_The spores which are enclosed in asci_ are, in some instances, set free from the mother-cell (ascus) prior to their complete development (_Elaphomyces_, _Eurotium_). In the case of the majority of the Pyrenomycetes and Truffles, the asci swell by the absorption of water into a slimy mass, which gradually disappears, so that the spores lie free in the fruit-body; they either remain there till the fruit-body decays, as in those which have no aperture (Perisporiaceæ, Tuberaceæ), or the slimy mass, by its growth, is forced out through the aperture of the sporocarp, taking the spores with it (_Nectria_). The ejection of the spores by mechanical means takes place in a number of Ascomycetes, and should many spores be simultaneously ejected, a dust-cloud may be seen with the naked eye to arise in the air from the fruit-body. This is the case in the larger species of _Peziza_, _Helvella_, _Rhytisma_, when suddenly exposed to a damp current of air. A distinction is drawn between a simultaneous ejection of all the spores contained in the ascus, and an ejection at intervals (successive), when only one spore at a time is thrown out. The first of these methods is the most frequent, and is brought about by the ascus being lined with a layer of protoplasm, which absorbs water to such a degree that the elastic walls are extended at times to double their original size. The spores are forced up against the free end of the ascus, a circular rupture is made at this point, and the elastic walls contract, so that the fluid with the spores is ejected. Special means may in some instances be found to keep the spores together, and compel their simultaneous ejection. Thus, a tough slime may surround all the spores (_Saccobolus_), or a chain-apparatus, similarly formed of tough slime; or there may be a hooked appendage from each end of the spores which hooks into the appendage of the next spore (_Sordaria_). The paraphyses occurring between the asci in many Ascomycetes, also play a part in the distribution of the spores, by reason of the pressure they exercise. The asci in some of the Pyrenomycetes, which are provided with jar-shaped fruit-bodies, elongate to such an extent that, without becoming detached from their bases, they reach the mouth of the fruit-body one at a time, burst and disperse their spores, and so make room for those succeeding. An ejection of the spores at intervals from the ascus is rarer. It takes place, for instance, in _Pleospora_, whose asci have a double wall. The external wall, by absorption of water, at last becomes ruptured, and the internal and more elastic membrane forces itself out in the course of a few seconds to one of two or three times greater length and thickness, so that one spore after another is forcibly ejected from a narrow aperture at the end of the ascus.