﻿8 
  A 
  PLAIN 
  AND 
  EASY 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  the 
  growth 
  ami 
  healthy 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  plant, 
  but 
  also 
  

   to 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  the 
  green 
  chlorophyl, 
  or 
  colouring 
  

   matter. 
  Fungi, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  

   flourish 
  best 
  in 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  light, 
  in 
  dark 
  cellars, 
  

   under 
  flagstones, 
  in 
  hollow 
  trees, 
  and 
  in 
  like 
  places, 
  

   where 
  no 
  other 
  form 
  of 
  plant 
  could 
  exist 
  ; 
  while 
  some 
  

   genera 
  are 
  entirely 
  subterranean. 
  

  

  The 
  luminosity 
  of 
  fungi 
  is 
  a 
  phenomenon 
  which 
  we 
  

   do 
  not 
  often 
  see 
  exhibited 
  in 
  these 
  temperate 
  regions 
  ; 
  

   but 
  in 
  countries 
  nearer 
  the 
  tropics 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  an 
  

   uncommon 
  occurrence 
  for 
  fungi 
  to 
  give 
  out 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  

   phosphorescent 
  light 
  with 
  sufficient 
  intensity 
  to 
  enable 
  

   the 
  traveller 
  to 
  read 
  his 
  letters 
  or 
  write 
  up 
  his 
  journal. 
  

  

  " 
  And 
  unctuous 
  meteors 
  from 
  spray 
  to 
  spray 
  

   Crept 
  and 
  Hi 
  i 
  ted 
  iu 
  broad 
  noonday 
  

   Unseen, 
  every 
  branch 
  on 
  which 
  they 
  alit 
  

   By 
  a 
  venomous 
  blight 
  was 
  burned 
  and 
  bit." 
  

  

  In 
  our 
  schoolboy 
  days 
  we 
  remember 
  to 
  have 
  often 
  

   carried 
  home 
  in 
  our 
  pockets 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  touchwood, 
  to 
  be 
  

   taken 
  to 
  bed 
  with 
  us 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  light 
  it 
  

   afforded. 
  What 
  we, 
  in 
  common 
  with 
  our 
  elders 
  and 
  

   betters, 
  termed 
  touchwood, 
  was 
  merely 
  the 
  light, 
  white, 
  

   decaying 
  wood 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  stump, 
  entirely 
  permeated 
  with 
  

   the 
  minute 
  mycelium 
  of 
  a 
  fungus, 
  and 
  which 
  exhibited 
  

   phosphorescence 
  in 
  the 
  dark. 
  The 
  fact 
  was 
  well 
  enough 
  

   known 
  to 
  us, 
  but 
  the 
  cause 
  was 
  a 
  mystery 
  ; 
  the 
  remotest 
  

   idea 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  a 
  fungoid 
  growth 
  

   never 
  entered 
  our 
  boyish 
  Ik 
  ads. 
  

  

  A 
  kind 
  of 
  Polyporus 
  (P. 
  sulfureus), 
  often 
  found 
  

  

  