FUNGI. 277 



in the case, as well as the presence of fungoid 

 matter." ^ 



We have certainly found amongst a rural popula- 

 tion many persons to affirm that they have met with 

 luminous decayed wood, so that with them "touch- 

 wood " is not a myth, but a reality, the two essential 

 features of which are — softness, amounting to fria- 

 bility, and the presence of phosphorescence. It must 

 not be assumed, however, that the latter is to be 

 accepted literally, and strictly, as implying the 

 presence of phosphorus in any form, but emitting a 

 pale lambent light, like that which is produced by 

 phosphorus when rubbed. 



A curious coincidence is narrated by Sir J. D. 

 Hooker, as having occurred to him during his Hima- 

 layan travels, which must be quoted. " The pheno- 

 menon of phosphorescence," he writes, "is very 

 conspicuous on stacks of firewood. At Dorjiling, 

 during the damp warm summer months, at elevations 

 of five thousand to eight thousand feet, it may be 

 witnessed every night by walking a few yards in the 

 forest — at least it was so in 1848 and 1849, and, 

 during my stay there, billets of decayed v/ood were 

 repeatedly sent me by residents, with inquiries as to 

 the cause of their luminosity. It is no exaggeration 

 to say that one does not need to remove from the 

 fireside to see this phenomenon, for if there is a 

 partially decayed log amongst the firewood, it is 

 almost sure to glow with a pale phosphoric light. A 

 stack of firewood, collected near my host's cottage, 

 presented a beautiful spectacle for two months (in 



' Gardener's Chronicle, 1S72, p. 1258. 



