168 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



some twelve years ago, and subsequently exhibited at a meeting 

 of the Royal Society, S.A. Two other nodules in his possession 

 almost perfectly resemble tubers of potatoes, and were sent l)y 

 Mr. J. G. Neuman, from Murray Bridge, in 1890, with the 

 information that similar specimens of various sizes were often 

 met with among the roots of tufts of sedges, etc., such as 

 Lepidosperma, Herotes and Cladium in sandy soil. Both the 

 latter are muddy-brown outside, and sandy-grey internally, quite 

 hard and stony, but not as heavy as real sandstone. It will be 

 noted that the upper end shows plainly the area of attachment 

 of the stem and collar. These stone-like nodules have not been 

 hitherto associated with fungi. The well-known Fungus stone 

 (Pietra Punghaia), which is used in Italy for the propagation of 

 Polyporus tuberaster, is simply a ball of earth or sort of tufa 

 matted together by mycelium, the dense masses of which have 

 the property of compactly binding together the loose particles of 

 earth. A Queensland Polyporus (P. iiimulosiis, Cooke), has also a 

 somewhat similar property. " On the hard stony ridges about 

 Brisbane, when trenching the land large masses of mycelium are 

 often met with. Some of the masses would weigh over a hundred- 

 weight. From its consistency one might fancy that a quantity 

 of dough had been buried."* Like other Australian mysteries, 

 such as that of the so-called Native Bread, the origin of the stony 

 nodules is now solved by means of the described and figured 

 specimen, and the geologist of the future may yet have to turn 

 to fungi for an explanation of some of the puzzling concretionary 

 forms occasionally met with. 



« Cooke Grevillea, svii., p. 55, 1880. 



