﻿4 
  A 
  PLAIN 
  AND 
  EASY 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  or, 
  to 
  come 
  nearer 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  us, 
  all 
  our 
  books 
  un- 
  

   touched 
  ? 
  

  

  But, 
  in 
  places 
  which 
  many 
  would 
  consider 
  more 
  un- 
  

   likely 
  still, 
  we 
  may 
  look 
  for 
  and 
  expect 
  to 
  find 
  fungi 
  : 
  * 
  

   on 
  whitewashed 
  walls, 
  plaster 
  ceilings, 
  dirty 
  glass, 
  old 
  

   flannel, 
  and 
  old 
  boots 
  and 
  shoes, 
  or 
  leather 
  of 
  any 
  

   description 
  ; 
  on 
  carpets, 
  mats, 
  and 
  boards, 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  

   plants 
  in 
  our 
  herbaria 
  must 
  be 
  watched 
  against 
  their 
  

   ravages. 
  Animals 
  bear 
  them 
  about 
  on 
  their 
  horns 
  and 
  

   hoofs, 
  and 
  the 
  housefly 
  often 
  carries 
  in 
  its 
  body 
  the 
  

   vegetating 
  fungus 
  which 
  ultimately 
  deprives 
  it 
  of 
  life. 
  

   The 
  yeast 
  that 
  is 
  employed 
  for 
  fermenting 
  our 
  bread 
  

   and 
  our 
  beer 
  is 
  a 
  fungus, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  mildew 
  and 
  

   smut 
  that 
  infest 
  our 
  growing 
  corn. 
  

  

  From 
  cesspools 
  and 
  traps, 
  the 
  minute 
  dust-like 
  spores 
  

   of 
  hidden 
  fungi 
  rise 
  into 
  our 
  dwellings, 
  unseen 
  they 
  

   float 
  in 
  the 
  air, 
  entering 
  everywhere, 
  depositing 
  them- 
  

   selves 
  everywhere, 
  and 
  vegetating 
  wherever 
  the 
  con- 
  

   ditions 
  are 
  favourable 
  to 
  their 
  development. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  strongly 
  affirmed 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  that 
  our 
  cholera 
  

   visitations 
  were 
  due 
  to 
  these 
  invisible 
  agents, 
  and 
  a 
  

   larorc 
  volume 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  on 
  these 
  vegetable 
  

   parasites 
  on 
  men 
  and 
  animals. 
  " 
  When 
  our 
  beer 
  

   becomes 
  mothery, 
  the 
  mother 
  of 
  that 
  mischief 
  is 
  a 
  

  

  * 
  As 
  a 
  difficulty 
  is 
  occasionally 
  experienced 
  amongst 
  amateurs 
  

   with 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  pronunciation 
  of 
  this 
  word 
  in 
  its 
  plural 
  

   form, 
  we 
  may 
  remind 
  them, 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  singular 
  the 
  g 
  should 
  be 
  

   hard 
  as 
  in 
  gum, 
  whilst 
  in 
  the 
  plural 
  fungi 
  lias 
  the 
  g 
  soft, 
  as 
  

   Fun-ji. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  permitted 
  us 
  to 
  protest 
  against 
  such 
  a 
  bar- 
  

   barism 
  as 
  funguses, 
  which 
  has 
  sometimes 
  been 
  employed 
  as 
  the 
  

   plural 
  of 
  fungus. 
  

  

  