1856.] The Crypto gamia. 317 



ground. All the different varieties of mushrooms are produced from 

 sporules, which escape from the membranous sacks in which they are 

 enclosed, after the decay of the plant, and in germinating send forth 

 white filaments, which are often taken and cultivated by gardeners. 

 That very rare and strange substance, called "spunk," remarkable for 

 the slowness with which it is consumed by fire, is also classed under the 

 head of mushrooms. There are a great many other species, with which 

 we are not, in this region of country, sufiijiently well acquainted, to 

 make an investigation interesting. AVe must not, however, fail to notice 

 some of the different kinds of moulds, and the family Alg<F, or sea-weeds. 

 Of the many different kinds of moulds, we will notice only that which 

 grows on decaying substances, and that which is produced on the heads 

 of crain in the field, cau.^ing what is culled blight. In all the plants, 



*^ ••11 



concerninn which we have spoken above, there has been some visible 

 means of their re-production, but here we can find none. In accordance 

 with the general law, they must be produced by seeds ; but whence these 

 come, and how they should be deposited here, are questions that admit 

 of much conjecture and speculation. Perhaps, they may be continually 

 floating in the air, and being lodged here find circumstances favoring 

 germination, and consequently they immediately spring up and flourish. 

 But this, like many other theories, will admit of as much doubt as 

 certainty. 



rinally, we have the sea-weeds, a class, very simple as regards their 

 organization, but by no means to be slighted. They appear to be com- 

 posed of a jelly-like substance, often containing very minute shells, and 

 variegated with the most beautiful colors, so that when pressed, and dried 

 upon paper, they equal, if not surpass in beauty, the most perfect paint- 

 ing One genus, called /»c?/,s, which grows upon the rocks along the 

 sea-coast, yields that very useful substance, iouine, and another, under 

 the name of Caragreen-moss of Ireland, is used in the composition of 

 that excellent dish, bkinc mange — both belong to this same family. 



We perceive, that almost all the plants that we have had occasion to 

 mention, flourish best in a warm, damp, and shaded soil ; that some will 

 grow submersed in the w-ater, and some without the least particle of 

 light. That they should prefer a warm and damp soil, is not so strange, 

 for heat and moisture are necessary for the support of any plant ; but 

 why some will grow only in the absence of light, is a question easier 

 asked than answered, unless the answer that they " love darkness rather 

 than light," be taken as satisfactory ; and perhaps it may be, when we 

 consider that the deeds of many of these mushrooms, that spring up by 

 thousands in one night, " are evil." 



