﻿OF 
  BRITISH 
  FUNGI. 
  3 
  

  

  of 
  them 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  not. 
  Wherever 
  decaying 
  vege- 
  

   table 
  matter 
  exists, 
  we 
  may 
  expect 
  to 
  find 
  a 
  new 
  

   race 
  flourishing 
  among 
  the 
  debris, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  decay 
  

   of 
  the 
  garden 
  of 
  " 
  the 
  sensitive 
  plant 
  " 
  described 
  

   by 
  Shelley 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  And 
  plants 
  at 
  whose 
  name 
  the 
  verse 
  feels 
  loath, 
  

   Fill'd 
  the 
  place 
  with 
  a 
  monstrous 
  undergrowth, 
  

   Prickly 
  and 
  pulpous, 
  and 
  blistering, 
  and 
  blue, 
  

   Livid, 
  and 
  starr'd 
  with 
  a 
  lurid 
  dew, 
  

  

  And 
  agarics, 
  and 
  fungi, 
  with 
  mildew 
  and 
  mould, 
  

   Started 
  like 
  mist 
  from 
  the 
  wet 
  ground 
  cold 
  ; 
  

   Pale, 
  fleshy, 
  as 
  if 
  the 
  decaying 
  dead 
  

   With 
  a 
  spirit 
  of 
  growth 
  had 
  been 
  animated. 
  

  

  Their 
  mass 
  rotted 
  off 
  them 
  flake 
  by 
  flake, 
  

   Till 
  the 
  thick 
  stalk 
  stuck 
  like 
  a 
  murderer's 
  stake, 
  

   Where 
  rags 
  of 
  loose 
  flesh 
  yet 
  tremble 
  on 
  high, 
  

   Infecting 
  the 
  winds 
  that 
  wander 
  by. 
  

  

  Such 
  a 
  spot 
  is 
  an 
  almost 
  certain 
  home 
  for 
  fungi. 
  

   Every 
  rotten 
  stump 
  or 
  twig, 
  every 
  decaying 
  leaf 
  or 
  fruit, 
  

   has 
  its 
  peculiar 
  species, 
  — 
  some 
  large 
  enough 
  to 
  attract 
  

   immediate 
  attention, 
  others 
  so 
  small 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  invisible 
  

   to 
  the 
  unaided 
  eye. 
  But 
  we 
  need 
  not 
  travel 
  from 
  home 
  

   to 
  meet 
  with 
  examples 
  : 
  the 
  unwelcome 
  dry-rot 
  may 
  

   have 
  committed 
  its 
  ravages 
  beneath 
  our 
  kitchen 
  floor 
  ; 
  

   or 
  on 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  our 
  cellars, 
  and 
  our 
  casks, 
  or 
  bottles 
  

   of 
  wine, 
  may 
  be 
  infested 
  with 
  members 
  of 
  this 
  ubiquitous 
  

   race. 
  Can 
  we 
  find 
  no 
  morsel 
  of 
  bread 
  or 
  cheese 
  upon 
  

   which 
  a 
  mould 
  is 
  flourishing 
  ? 
  no 
  towel 
  or 
  other 
  article 
  

   of 
  household 
  linen 
  presenting 
  traces 
  of 
  mildew 
  ? 
  Are 
  

   we 
  perfectly 
  certain 
  that 
  all 
  our 
  preserves 
  are 
  unvisited, 
  

  

  b2 
  

  

  