FUNGI. 261 



course of destruction, and that the plants attacked 

 soon rot under the influence of the disease; wherefore 

 the moulds have acquired for themselves the distinc- 

 tion of being termed " rotting moulds." 



Hibernation. 



In the struggle for existence the fungi, of all 

 organisms, seem least fitted to survive the chilling 

 embrace of winter. It is almost matter for surprise 

 that the different species should perpetuate them- 

 selves, when it is remembered how, at the approach 

 of frost, so many of them disappear, and seem to 

 leave no trace behind. And yet, year by year, they 

 continue to flourish by some occult power of hiberna- 

 tion ; hence it may prove of some interest to discover 

 how this rejuvenescence is accomplished. In all the 

 gill-bearing fungi of the mushroom type, their cellular 

 structure, and large percentage of water render them 

 very amenable to the effects of cold, so that, after 

 one or two frosty nights, they collapse and disappear ; 

 only a few slimy species, or a few that are tougher 

 and less watery than the rest, survive. When the 

 cap and stem collapse and decay, it would appear to 

 the uninitiated that the whole individual is oblite- 

 rated ; and, as the spores have a thin membranaceous 

 exterior, that they could not retain vitality through- 

 out the winter. It is still an open question w'hether 

 and how any of the spores survive. Of the immense 

 number produced by every single individual, possibly 

 very few, under the most favourable circumstances, 

 germinate. Hence, then, as far as we know, or can 

 conjecture, it is not throueh the medium of the 



