THE VICTOKIAN NATURALIST. 139 



birds. All information concerning it points to the conclusion 

 that macrourus and textilis are one and the same bird. It is, to 

 say the least, remarkable that Gould should give such a name to a 

 bird, and then show by his measurements that it is the smallest 

 species of the genus. 



How Mushrooms Grow. — Writing on fungi in the January 

 issue of Knowledge, Mr. George Massee states that " in all fungi 

 the portion visible to the naked eye, however varied its form or 

 colour, represents only the reproductive portion ; whereas the 

 vegetative part is buried in the substance from which the fungus 

 obtains its food. The popular belief that the mushroom and 

 other fungi grow in a single night is not correct ; it is quite true 

 that when the mushroom has reached a certain stage of develop- 

 ment one or two days suffices for it to attain its full size after it 

 appears above ground. Before this final spurt is reached, how- 

 ever, the baby mushroom has been growing for some weeks, and 

 undergone various changes of structure and development before 

 it emerges above ground. A little thought will recall to mind the 

 fact that mushrooms do not spring up within two or three days 

 after the formation of a mushroom bed, but several weeks elapse 

 before the mushrooms are ready for the table. . . . The 

 various methods of spore dispersion as occurring in the fungi are 

 interesting ; only a few of the most pronounced can be noticed 

 here. By far the most universal agent in effecting the distribu- 

 tion of spores is wind, as may be observed when a ripe pufifball is 

 crushed under foot. Insects are also answerable for the extension 

 of many fungus epidemics, by alternately feeding on or visiting 

 diseased and healthy plants, and in so doing unconsciously 

 conveying spores from one plant to another. Perhaps the most 

 interesting instance occurs in a group of fungi to which our 

 ' stinkhorn ' belongs. Most of the species are tropical ; in this 

 country (England) we have only three representatives. In this 

 group the reproductive portion of the fungus often assumes most 

 fantastic forms, and is generally brilliantly coloured. Over this 

 framework is spread at maturity a dingy green, semi-fluid mass, 

 intensely sweet to the taste, and, from the ordinary human stand- 

 point, intensely foetid ; the exceedingly minute spores are 

 embedded in this substance, which is greedily devoured by 

 various kinds of insects, mostly flies, who thus unconsciously 

 diffuse the spores, as it has been shown that these are not injured 

 by passing through the alimentary tract of an insect. It is 

 interesting to note that in certain of the fungi the same advertise- 

 ments in the guise of colour, sweet taste, and smell are used for 

 the purpose of unconscious dispersion of the spores by insects as 

 are used by many flowering plants for the purpose of securing 

 cross-fertilization, also through the agency of insects." 



