FUNGI.* 



RV SANFORn OMENSKTTKR. 



In all the fields of botanical research there can be no more 

 interesting- subjects than the fungi, which comprise cellular, 

 flowerless plants, nourished through their spawn or mycelium ; 

 living generalh^ al)ove ground and propagated by spores of 

 various colors. They are closely related to algce, but grow in 

 different situations — in green pastures, in meadows and wood- 

 lands, on decaying trees ; some on cereals, potatoes and other 

 vegetation, which they destroy ; others on books in damp sit- 

 uations, and some on man or animals under certain conditions. 



The spores correspond to the seeds in other plants, but 

 differ from the latter in being composed simply of cells and 

 not containing an embryo. Under favorable conditions the 

 spores develop into the spawn or niAxelium, which is the veg- 

 etative part of a fungus and consists of inconspicuous white 

 down and strings, and may be either filamentous or cellular. 

 Almost every earthly thing is liable to be infected by this 

 ubiquitous race. Some spread themselves over our fruits ; 

 others attack our bread, cheese, pickles or other manufactured 

 articles of food. "When our vinegar becomes mothery," 

 writes one observer, ' ' the cause of the mischief is a fungus ; 

 if pickles acquire a bad taste, if catsup turns ropy and putre- 

 fies, the fungi have a hand in it all. Their reign stops not 

 here — they even prey on each other. The close cavities of 

 nuts occasionally afford concealment to some species; others 

 like leeches stick to the bulbs of plants and suck them dry ; 

 some (the architect and ship builder's bane) pick timber to 

 pieces as men pick oakum. One variety has a particular 

 fancy for the hoofs of horses and the horns of cattle, sticking 

 to these alpne. The body of the domestic fly is liable in 

 autumn to be attacked by a parasitic fungous growth." 



The word fungi has been adopted into the English language 

 directlv from the Latin, though originally from the Greek 



*S\'nopsis read l)ei'ore the Institute. 



