18 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



nothing had happened; but, in a few, a myceHum was observed in 

 course of development. The mycelium was watched, and after a 

 time was found to have produced fruit-bodies of the same species as 

 those from which the spores had been taken to start the experiments. 

 After having discussed his negative as well as his positive results, 

 Micheli concluded: "It is sulïicient for me for the present that I 

 have sown the seeds and have seen the fungi arise from them." On 

 account of the uncertaitny of these experiments, he advises those who 

 want to raise fungi for profit to confine themselves to the Mushroom 

 which he says is grown "in oblong heaps of dung which by gardeners 

 are called by the common French name of Couches.'' 



At the present day, there is no more familiar operation in the 

 botanical laboratory than the raising of Moulds and other fungi on 

 various culture media. Micheli's experiments are therefore histori- 

 cally of high interest. In order to show exactly how they were carried 

 out a translation of the seven "Observations" will now be given. ^ 



Observation I. 



On the tenth of June, 1718, I collected in the country around the 

 town, many species of fungi which I had never seen coming up in the 

 woods of the royal pleasure gardens commonly called Boboli. This 

 was done to obtain the seeds of different species. Then I spread on 

 the table in my room many leaves of Ilex, Quercus, Laurus, Fraxinus, 

 and the like, which had already fallen some time but were not spoiled 

 or rotten, keeping each kind separate. On the different heaps of 

 leaves, I placed either erect or lying down, several of the fungi; on 

 some, one species, but on others, several species, simply for the purpose 

 of allowing each fungus to deposit its seeds on the leaves. When three 

 or four hours had passed, the leaves were turned, not merely in order 

 that each leaf should receive seeds, but also that the seeds should not 

 be collected in a heap in one place. When that was done and as much 

 of the seeds as there was need of had been collected, I threw away the 

 fungi and divided the different kinds of leaves into two parts, of which 

 I carried the one into a thicket of the Boboli gardens and the other 

 outside the town to a forest of Mount Olivet. I laid all these leaves 

 in a place suitable for producing fungi, i.e., shady, among semi-rotten 

 leaves of kinds different from those which had been covered with the 

 seeds of the fungi, and I so placed the different heaps that they could 

 not be mixed either with one another or with the leaves lying around. 



^ The original Latin accounts of these experiments are in the Nova Plantarum 

 Genera, pp. 136-139. I am indebted to Miss Gladys Workman and Mr. W. B. 

 Grove, M.A., for valuable assistance in making the translations. 



