﻿68 
  A 
  PLAIN 
  AND 
  EASY 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  ordinary 
  state, 
  the 
  soil 
  of 
  the 
  faded 
  ring 
  is 
  always 
  found 
  

   drier 
  and 
  of 
  a 
  paler 
  colour 
  than 
  the 
  adjoining 
  parts, 
  

   and 
  abundantly 
  impiegnated 
  with 
  mycelium. 
  Indeed, 
  

   a 
  careful 
  examination 
  will 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  faded 
  and 
  

   impoverished 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  turf 
  of 
  the 
  outer 
  ring 
  is 
  

   due 
  to 
  the 
  close 
  investment 
  of 
  its 
  roots 
  by 
  the 
  mycelium 
  

   of 
  the 
  fungi 
  which 
  occupy 
  the 
  ring. 
  The 
  dimensions 
  

   of 
  the 
  rings 
  vary 
  from 
  three 
  feet 
  to 
  three 
  hundred 
  feet 
  

   in 
  diameter 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  at 
  times 
  very 
  irregular 
  in 
  form, 
  

   an 
  accident 
  arising 
  either 
  from 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  

   and 
  the 
  obstacles 
  which 
  they 
  meet 
  with 
  in 
  their 
  cir- 
  

   cumferential 
  expansion, 
  or 
  from 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  ring 
  

   coalescing, 
  and 
  producing 
  an 
  outline 
  of 
  undulating 
  

   curves." 
  

  

  That 
  these 
  fairy-rings 
  were 
  the 
  nightly 
  haunts 
  and 
  

   dancing-grounds 
  of 
  fairy-folk 
  was 
  a 
  general 
  belief 
  

   before 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  these 
  little 
  people 
  came 
  to 
  be 
  

   doubted. 
  One 
  old 
  author 
  writes, 
  "They 
  had 
  always 
  

   fine 
  music 
  among 
  themselves, 
  and 
  danced 
  in 
  a 
  moon- 
  

   shiny 
  night, 
  around, 
  or 
  in 
  a 
  ring, 
  as 
  one 
  may 
  see 
  at 
  

   this 
  day 
  upon 
  every 
  common 
  in 
  England 
  where 
  mush- 
  

   rooms 
  grow." 
  Numerous 
  conjectures 
  were 
  ventured 
  

   as 
  to 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  these 
  lings 
  when 
  their 
  fairy 
  history 
  

   was 
  no 
  longer 
  believed 
  in. 
  They 
  were 
  attributed 
  to 
  

   the 
  exhalations 
  of 
  a 
  fertile 
  subterranean 
  vapour, 
  to 
  the 
  

   burrowing 
  of 
  moles, 
  to 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  lightning, 
  and, 
  in 
  

   1807, 
  Dr. 
  Wollaston 
  ascribed 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  

   certain 
  species 
  of 
  Agarics, 
  which 
  so 
  entirely 
  absorbed 
  

   all 
  nutriment 
  from 
  the 
  soil 
  beneath, 
  that 
  the 
  herbage 
  

   was 
  for 
  a 
  while 
  destroyed. 
  

  

  