210 ROMANCE OF LOW LIFE AMONGST PLANTS. 



the poor creatures cried out ' Chinga,' their name for 

 a spirit, and seemed much afraid of it." Another 

 West Australian species is Agaricus lainpas, which 

 also grew on the stumps of trees — Banksia or Grevillea. 

 The stump was at the time surrounded by water. It 

 was on a dark night, when passing, that the curious 

 light was first observed. When the fungus was laid 

 on a newspaper it emitted by night a phosphorescent 

 light, enabling persons to read the words around it ; 

 and it continued to do so for several nights, with 

 gradually decreasing intensity as the plant dried 

 up. A smaller species, not more than two inches 

 in diameter, Agaricus illimiinans, has been found 

 in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland ; 

 Agaricus candescens, in Victoria ; Agaricus pJios- 

 pJioreus, in Tasmania ; and Agaricus Gardneri, in 

 Queensland. The last-named species was first dis- 

 covered by Gardner in Brazil. It was encountered 

 on a dark night in December, while passing through 

 the streets of Villa de Natividate. Some boys were 

 amusing themselves with some luminous object, which 

 at first he supposed to be a kind of large fire-fly, but, 

 on making inquiry, he found it to be a beautiful 

 phosphorescent agaric, which he was told grew 

 abundantly in the neighbourhood, on the decaying 

 fronds of a dwarf palm. The whole plant gives 

 out at night a bright light somewhat similar to 

 that emitted by the larger fire-flies, having a pale 

 greenish hue. 



In addition to these, Gaudichaud found Agaricus 

 noctileucus, in the Philippines ; Agaricus pronietheus 

 was discovered at Hong Kong, by the United States 



