92 LIFE OF A TREE. 
they grow without one ray of light ever visiting 
them, and thrive most luxuriantly. It is neces- 
sary to take a candle to attend to these funny 
plants; and a few months ago a poor mushroom- 
grower nearly lost his life by his candle going 
out, and leaving him in the dismal caves in 
impenetrable darkness. Fortunately, after three 
days his friends found him out, and rescued 
him from his terrible tomb. Near Dresden there 
are some extensive coal-mines which are cele- 
brated for their fungi; for here they thrive 
luxuriantly, and, what is more striking, they 
possess luminous properties, so that they light 
up the black galleries hewn in the coal, in some 
places with such brilliance, and such a beauti- 
fully soft irradiance, that the mine has all the 
appearance of an enchanted palace. 
These plants, as we have said, absorb oxygen 
gas from the air, and exhale carbonic-acid,—-the 
exact reversal of what takes place in the rest 
of plants. Indeed, in this respect, they actually 
resemble animals. This has been proved by some 
interesting experiments performed on the sub- 
ject by M. Marcet. We might therefore imagine 
that fungous plants were actually prejudicial to 
