FAIRY RINGS. 117 



rings as these we have often found on the grassy embankment of the 

 Birmingham Railway, near to the London end of the Primrose Hill 

 tunnel. In 1846, we found a fine ring at "Wanstead, in which the 

 common toadstool had taken up its abode, and flourished to the entire 

 exclusion of every other fungus. Only a few weeks since, we found 

 several flourishing rings on Hampstead Heath, which were crowded 

 with the finest of champignons ; a vast number of these we gathered, 

 and had the pleasure of making intimate acquaintance with their ex- 

 cellence in the soup which appeared on the table next day. In rich 

 meadows the interior of the ring — at least as far as our own obser- 

 vations go — is usually bare and brown, without trace of fungi of any 

 kind, while the grass surrounding it is of a very rich and luxuriant 

 character. If the plants in the exterior be pulled up, the spawn of 

 the mushrooms will frequently be found attached to their roots, and 

 in the barren interior of the circle, at the depth of two or three 

 inches, the soil will be found saturated with it. 



Such is the disenchantment which the fairy ring must undergo ; 

 not to the destruction of its beauty, nor to the lessening of our 

 interest in its growth, — but to the exaltation of our views of the vast 

 economy of nature, and of that wisdom which lies behind nature, 

 whose workings are seen to be as perfect and as beautiful in the vast 

 machinery of revolving stars, as in the successive growths of fairy 

 rings. Of old, it was deemed sacrilege to question the mysteries of 

 nature ; and to pry into alleged supernatural powers brought shame 

 and suffering in return. Science, supplanting these unseen powers 

 with agencies more subtle and wonders more enchanting, bids us ask 

 and ask again, giving to each trustful question answers full of wonder 

 and full of joy. 



KTO^;,^^ 



'^ST- 



