124 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



the gardener and several members' of my family, 

 who all witnessed the extraordinary sight, which 

 lasted for about a quarter of an hour, gradually 

 becoming fainter, till at last it ceased altogether. 

 There was a smoky appearance after each flash, 

 which we all particularly remarked. The ground 

 under the plants was very dry ; the air was sultry, 

 and seemed charged with electricity. The flashes 

 had the exact appearance of summer lightning in 

 miniature. This was the first time I had seen any- 

 thing of the kind, and having never heard of such 

 appearances, I could hardly believe my eyes. After- 

 wards, however, when the day had been hot and the 

 ground was dry, the same phenomenon was con- 

 stantly observed at about sunset, and equally on the 

 scarlet geraniums and verbenas. In 1859 it was 

 again seen. On Sunday evening, July 10th of that 

 year, my children came running in to say that the 

 ' lightning ' was again playing on the flowers. "We 

 all saw it, and again on July 11th. I thought that 

 the flashes of light were brighter than I had ever 

 seen them before. The weather was very sultry."* 



These instances of luminosity in flowering plants, 

 and those about to be alluded to amongst fungi, are 

 referable to two very distinct causes. Those of 

 fungi being entirely exhibitions of phosphorescence, 

 causes which are inadequate to explain the pheno- 

 mena in the other cases. Two or three paragraphs 

 have already appeared in recent numbers of this 

 journal illustrative of this phase of the subject, and 

 the following are given as more detailed accounts 

 of the instances alluded to by Mr. W. G. Smith. 



The Tlev. M. J. Berkeley f alludes to the lumi- 

 nosity of fungi in his excellent "Introduction," 

 where he says, " This luminosity has been observed 

 in various parts of the world ; and where the species 

 has been fully developed, it has been generally a 

 species of Agaricus which has yielded the pheno- 

 mena. Agaricus olearius of the South of Europe is 

 one of the best known, but other species have been 

 observed, as Agaricus Gardneri in Brazil, Agaricus 

 lampos, and some others in Australia ; in Amboyna 

 by Bumphius, &c. Mr. Babington has observed im- 

 perfect mycelia extremely luminous near Cambridge ; 

 and Dr. Hooker speaks of the phenomenon as com- 

 mon in Sikkim, though he was never able to detect 

 the species to which it was due. Tulasue, % who 

 has specially examined the luminosity of the agaric 

 of the olive, has observed dead leaves in the south 

 of France to be endowed with the same property, 

 without however, being able to detect the cause. 

 Eabre, in a paper in the Annates des Sciences Na- 

 turelles, ascribes it to a temporary increase of oxy- 

 dation. 



Beautiful, however, as the effect may be in these 



* Gardener's Chronicle, July IS, 1859, p. 60*. 

 t Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany, p. 265. 

 X Annates des Sciences Naturelles, 1848, ix. p. 338. 



instances, it is far excelled by the phosphorescent 

 appearance presented by Rhizomorphce in mines, the 

 splendour of which is described by Humboldt in the 

 most glowing colours. Such Rhizomorphce are, I 

 believe, always mere subterranean forms of common 

 fungi, as is the case with Rhizomorpha subcorticalis. 

 Decandolle long since explained their real nature ; 

 but it is very curious, if this be the case, that our 

 common Polypori and Xylaria, which give rise no- 

 toriously to such productions, are not themselves 

 luminous when perfectly developed. 



Mr. Gardner gives the following account of the 

 Brazilian species first discovered by himself : — " One 

 dark night, about the beginning of the present 

 month (December, 1S39), while passing along the 

 streets of the Villa de Natividate, Goyaz, Brazil), 

 I observed some boys amusing themselves with 

 some luminous object, which I at first supposed to 

 be a kind of large fire-fly ; but on making inquiry 

 I found it to be a beautiful phosphorescent species 

 of Agaricus, and was told that it grew abundantly 

 in the neighbourhood on the decaying fronds of a 

 dwarf palm." 



The whole plant gives out at night a bright 

 phosphorescent light, somewhat similar to that 

 emitted by the larger fire-flies, having a pale 

 greenish hue. From this circumstance, and from 

 growing on a palm, it is called by the inhabitants 

 " Elor de Coco."* 



It has been stated that the mycelium of truffles 

 is luminous ; but this seems to rest upon the 

 authority of one observer, and, as far as we can 

 learn, has never been verified. 



Mr. James Drummond, in a letter published 

 in Hooker's Journal for April, 1S42, and dated 

 Swan River, 1841, gives some account of luminous 

 fungi of that region :— " As respects fungi I would 

 chiefly like to give you some account of two species 

 of Agaricus, belonging to that division which has 

 the stem at one side of the pileus. They grow 

 parasitically on the stumps of trees, and possess 

 nothing remarkable in their appearance by day ; but 

 by night they emit a most curious light, such as I 

 never saw described in any book. The first species 

 in which I observed this property was about two 

 inches across, and was growing in clusters on the 

 stump of a Banhia tree, near the jetty at Perth, 

 Western Australia. The stump was at the time 

 surrounded with water, when I happened to be 

 passing on a dark night, and was much surprised 

 to see what appeared to be a light in such a spot. 

 On examination, I found it to proceed from this 

 fungus. It is six or seven years since this circum- 

 stance occurred. The late Dr. Collie, then our 

 colonial surgeon, possessed a good collection of 

 botanical books, which he and I consulted, but 

 without finding anything which bore on the subject. 



* Hooker's Journal, 1810, vol. ii. p. 426. 



