﻿OF 
  BRITISH 
  FUNGI. 
  5 
  

  

  fungus 
  ; 
  if 
  pickles 
  acquire 
  a 
  bad 
  taste, 
  if 
  ketchup 
  

   turns 
  ropy 
  and 
  putrefies, 
  fungi 
  have 
  a 
  finger 
  in 
  it 
  all. 
  

   Their 
  reign 
  stops 
  not 
  here 
  — 
  they 
  even 
  prey 
  on 
  each 
  

   other. 
  The 
  close 
  cavities 
  of 
  nuts 
  occasionally 
  afford 
  

   concealment 
  to 
  some 
  species 
  ; 
  others, 
  like 
  leeches, 
  

   stick 
  to 
  the 
  bulbs 
  of 
  plants, 
  and 
  suck 
  them 
  dry 
  ; 
  and 
  

   some 
  pick 
  timber 
  to 
  pieces 
  as 
  men 
  pick 
  oakum." 
  Hop- 
  

   mildew, 
  vine-disease, 
  turnip-mildew, 
  bunt, 
  smut, 
  ergot, 
  

   potato-murrain, 
  pea 
  and 
  wheat 
  mildew, 
  may 
  all 
  be 
  

   traced 
  to 
  them 
  as 
  the 
  fertile 
  source 
  of 
  mischief. 
  

  

  That 
  fungi 
  may 
  be 
  developed 
  under, 
  apparently, 
  the 
  

   most 
  unfavourable 
  circumstances, 
  may 
  be 
  gathered 
  from 
  

   an 
  instance 
  recorded 
  by 
  Schweinitz, 
  of 
  a 
  blacksmith 
  at 
  

   Salem, 
  who, 
  having 
  thrown 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  iron 
  

   which 
  he 
  had 
  just 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  fire, 
  was 
  called 
  off 
  

   to 
  some 
  other 
  business, 
  and 
  on 
  his 
  return 
  in 
  the 
  morning 
  

   was 
  astonished 
  to 
  see 
  on 
  this 
  very 
  piece, 
  lying 
  over 
  the 
  

   water 
  on 
  his 
  smith's 
  trough, 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  fungi 
  two 
  feet 
  in 
  

   length. 
  It 
  had 
  crept 
  from 
  the 
  iron 
  to 
  some 
  adjacent 
  

   wood, 
  and 
  not 
  from 
  the 
  wood 
  to 
  the 
  iron. 
  This 
  im- 
  

   mense 
  mass 
  had 
  grown 
  during 
  the 
  space 
  of 
  twelve 
  hours. 
  

   The 
  Rev. 
  M. 
  J. 
  Berkeley 
  also 
  found 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  fungus 
  

   vegetating 
  on 
  a 
  lead 
  cistern 
  at 
  Kew 
  ; 
  and 
  Sowerby, 
  the 
  

   author 
  of 
  an 
  illustrated 
  work 
  on 
  British 
  Fungi, 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  since, 
  found 
  a 
  species 
  

   growing 
  on 
  some 
  cinders 
  on 
  the 
  outside 
  of 
  the 
  dome 
  of 
  

   St. 
  Paul's. 
  

  

  Nor 
  are 
  these 
  plants 
  less 
  worthy 
  of 
  notice 
  on 
  account 
  

   of 
  the 
  rapidity 
  of 
  their 
  growth. 
  The 
  great 
  Puff 
  Ball 
  

   springs 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  marvellous 
  manner 
  to 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  

  

  