SALT AND WATER IN LIFE AND GROWTH 



137 



so striking that, according to Leduc, botanists have mis- 

 taken them for real ones. The stems of the osmotic mush- 

 rooms are formed by bundles of fine hollow fibers. The 

 upper surfaces of the hoods are smooth or covered with fine 

 scales, while their lower surfaces present traces of vertical 

 gills. Sometimes these gills are intersected with concentric 

 lines. Natural mushrooms — although formed by a differ- 

 ent type of growth — are built up in a somewhat similar 



Fig. 46. Artificial Mushrooms 



Copy of a picture taken by Stephane Leduc of his famous artificial 

 mushrooms, which although made entirely of mineral matter, have been 

 mistaken for real mushrooms by expert botanists. (Natural size.) 



manner, since their stems are also made up of fibers which 

 are bundled together and continue to extend into the hood. 

 Leduc has succeeded also in imitating certain other living 

 forms by his artificial structures. Some of these are: 



1. Vermiform structures (Fig. 47). 



2. Structures resembling actinosphaerium which is a one- 

 celled animal with slender outgrowths (pseudopodia) 

 (Figs. 48 and 49). 



3. Structures resembling growing nerve fibers (Figs. 50 

 and 51). 



