Order Gasterojiycetes.' Sub-order Myxoc/astres: 



Plate III. 



LYCOGALA EPIDENDRUM, l- 



Scarlet Lycogala. 



innmis. 



Gen. Char. Peridium determinate, composed of a double membrane, somewhat warty, persistent, bursting 

 at the apex. Flocci very delicate. Named by MicUeli from Xvkos, a toolf, and yaXa, milk. 



Spec. C/iar. Lycogala epidendeum. Sub-globose, blood-red,, thin, brownish-grey, punctato-scabrous 

 mouth irregular ; contents of the peridium at first fluid, brUliant scarlet, oozing out in drops when fractured ; 

 afterwards glutinous, paler when dry. 

 Lycogala epidendrum. Fries, Berkeley. 



niiniata, Persoon, Motigeot §' Nestler, Greville. 



Lycopeedon epidendrum, Liiiiiaus, BidUard, Withering, Sowerhy. 



Hab. On rotten stumps and pales. Spring and autumn. 



The superstition that the milk of a cruel, ravenous creature like the wolf, partakes of the nature of 

 its food, is a very old one, and not more unreasonable than most other superstitions. The sweet, mild, 

 bland fluid, converted from vegetable food, could scarcely be supposed to have anything in common with 

 that wliich Macaulay explains the manufacture of : 



" The ravening she-wolf knew them, 

 And licked them o'er and o'er, 

 And gave them of her own fierce milk. 

 Rich with raw flesh and gore." 



No wonder the marvellous twins turned out as they did ! We can scarcely suppose that if their 

 foster-mother had happened to be a patient ass or a gentle ewe, the nursHngs would not have acquired 

 those milder natures ; — whether to the world's loss or gain, who shall say ? 



When Micheli saw crimson drops flow from a wounded fungus, he naturally enough called it " woK's 

 milk ;" Lycogala, however, as applied to designate a genus, loses some of its propriety, as others of the 

 family have not this peculiar colour. Tlie Lycogala epidendrum is the only English species ; the 

 Reticularias are nearly allied to, and have erroneously been classed with, it; therefore a description 

 of them may not be out of place here. 



' Prom yaarfip, the stomach, and /ivKrjs, a fnngus. Hymenium included in the receptacle. 

 2 From fii^a, mucus, and yaa-Trjp, the belly. At first very soft and mucilaginous. 



