N. ‘ORIGIN ‘OF MOULD. 199 
tity of mould grows on thefe ftreams, as may be 
-obferved if the glafs receivers are tranfparent. 
But ‘the other kind of mould, which .in the be- 
ginning we have faid is very complicated, always 
{prings on the immediate fubftance of the vegeta- 
ble itfelf, and particularly prefers gourds and 
moiftened bread. ‘When thefe begin to acidify 
and corrupt, .a thick white covering of mould 
appears on the furface, which:in a few hours is 
an inch high, and, ‘when ripe, three inches or 
more. ‘This -is different from the laft fpecies, 
which, at complete maturity, is fearcely half an 
inch high. We have already obferved, that each 
plant may be examined feparatsly, and without 
-confufion, and that the examination may be dif- 
tinétly continued until maturity ; but it is other- 
wife with the.mould before us; for it is impof 
fible to examine each plant diftin& and feparate. 
The immenfe number of them when the mould 
begins to {pring, the interlacing of the ftalks 
and branches which entangle and interweave ‘in 
a hundred different ways, is a complete obftacle 
to it: the eye is abfolutely confounded, vifion 4s 
-confufed, and can only diftinguifh an intricate 
affemblage of flender filaments, which, as vegeta- 
tion advances, become more and more deranged, 
erefore a general defcription of the whole to- 
_ gether muft be given. The ftalks, torn from the 
dubftance where they fpring, feem to have no 
Na roots, 
