Fungi: Their Nature and UsesCooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Science
Fungi: Their Nature and Uses
Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Fungi
Each of these, after
a short and simple process, branch out into a furcated form; the
furcations being made in such a manner that the ends of the branch at
last so stand together that their surface forms a ball. Finally, each
of the ends of a branch swells to a little round sporangium, which is
limited by a partition (called sporangiolum, to distinguish it from
the larger ones), in which some, generally four, spores are formed in
the manner already known. When the sporangiola are alone, they have
such a peculiar appearance, with their richly-branched bearers, that
they can be taken for something quite different to the organs of the
_Mucor mucedo_, and were formerly not considered to belong to it. That
they really belong to the _Mucor_ is shown by the principal filament
which it bears, not always, but very often, ending with a large
sporangium, which is characteristic of the _Mucor mucedo_; it is still
more evident if we sow the spores of the sporangiolum, for, as it
germinates, a mycelium is developed, which, near a simple bearer, can
form large sporangia, and those form sporangiola, the first always
considerably preponderating in number, and very often exclusively. If
we examine a large number of specimens, we find every possible middle
form between the simple or less branched sporangia-bearers and the
typical sporangiola frills; and we arrive at last at the conclusion
simply to place the latter among the varieties of form which the
sporangia-bearer of the _Mucor mucedo_ shows, like every other typical
organic form within certain limits. On the other hand, propagation
organs, differing from those of the sporangia and their products,
belong to _Mucor mucedo_, which may be termed conidia. On the dung
(they are rare on any other substance) these appear at the same time,
or generally somewhat later, than the sporangia-bearers, and are not
unlike those to the naked eye. In a more accurate examination, they
appear different; a thicker, partition-less filament rises up and
divides itself, generally three-forked, at the length of one
millimetre, into several series of branchlets. The forked branches of
the last series bear under their points, which are mostly capillary,
short erect little ramuli, and these, with which the ends of the
principal branches articulate on their somewhat broad tops, several
spores and conidia, near one another; about fifteen to twenty are
formed at the end of each little ramulus. The peculiarities and
variations which so often appear in the ramification need not be
discussed here. After the articulation of the conidia, their bearers
sink together by degrees, and are quite destroyed. The ripe conidia
are round like a ball, their surface is scarcely coloured, and almost
wholly smooth. These conidioid forms were at first described as a
separate species under the name of _Botrytis Jonesii_. How, then, do
they belong to the _Mucor_?[t] That they appear gregariously is as
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