CHAPTER XXVII. 



FUNGI. 



" Love Nature, and her smallest atoms 

 Shall whisper to thy mind." 



Charles Mackay. 



RAVING examined the principal members of the 

 Hymenium and Envelope classes, we now 

 come to the third or dust class, Coniomycetes. 

 Here the spores are the leading feature ; sometimes they 

 are single, sometimes connected in chains, sometimes 

 covered, sometimes lying in naked clusters, and supported 

 on more or less rudimentary threads ; but whatever the 

 variety of the case the minute plant seems chiefly com- 

 posed of dust-like spores. 



The large majority in this class are epiphytes, or para- 

 sites, according as they infest leaves or wood, and other 

 substances. All are minute, and are only recognisable by 

 means of a lens. 



Wherever we find a bundle of dead nettles we may 

 hope to discover black specks on the stems ; which, when 

 examined by means of the microscope, are seen to be 

 bottle-shaped. This nettle dust is one of the Apos- 



