COMMUNICA.TIONS. 285 



sideration of some of the members of this last mentioned group 

 that your attention is invited. 



Fungi make up a group so diversified in characteristics that it 

 is almost impossible to give any description of them as a whole. 

 Suffice it to say, they are all parasites, deriving their nourishment 

 directly from the organic substance upon which they feed, having 

 no green leaves in which crude material can be transformed and 

 fitted for the growth of the plant. They are all thieves, then, 

 either stealing their sustenance from the dead, or robbing the 

 living tissue of all its vital fluid. 



Their range of growth is limited only by the boundaries of 

 other forms of life. The housewife, to her great dismay, finds 

 upon the top of her can of fruit a portion that is white and 

 worthless ; a plant has found its proper element and has been 

 feeding upon her dainties. Yeast is employed to make our bread 

 light and wholesome ; and myriads of little plants do the work 

 and do it willingly. Fungi flourish upon our walls, find their 

 way through our books, and pick to pieces the frame-work of the 

 stoutest ships. 



In the Mushroom, Agaricus campesiris, perhaps as well known 

 as Toadstool, we have a species of fungus with which every one 

 is famih'ar. It is the famous Chamjngnon of the French, the 

 Paliola of the Italians, and was known to the ancients by upwards 

 of a score of synonyms, growing almost everywhere, from the 

 chilling atmosphere of Lipland, to the hot climate of the tropics; 

 from the Japan islands on the east, to California on the west. 

 Though it is by no means confined to old pastures, with us it is 

 to be found there in the greatest abundance, and especially after 

 a warm shower in the evening. The rapidity of its growth is 

 proverbial. If we go out in the morning wc may see them in 

 clusters exhibiting all gradations, from the young " buttons," re- 

 sembling eggs in size and color, to those of middle and old age, 

 consisting of a stalk somewhat larger than a man's middle finger, 

 bearing at the top a broad, umbrella-like expansion, which is 

 called the pileus. When young, the outer edge of the pileus is 

 united with the stalk, but as it approaches maturity it breaks 

 away, leaving the ring to mark its former place of attachment. 



