FUNGI. 15 



iodine''' nor towards many of the reagents commonly used in 

 testing typical cellulose, it is necessary to apply to it the 

 special term fungal cellulose. 



A great distinction between the fungal cell and other veg- 

 etable cells is that the former is wholly destitute of chloro- 

 phyl. Chlorophyl is the essential constituent that imparts the 

 green coloration to the leaves and stalks of plants. Its nature 

 is still doubtful, never having been obtained in a perfectly 

 pure condition. 



Georg;e Murray states that " in their mode of life fungi are 

 controlled by this absence of chlorophyl. Without it they 

 cannot assimilate, and are therefore driven to obtain their 

 nourishment by taking up the carbon compounds assimilated 

 by other organisms. Their mode of life is either parasitic or 

 saprophytic. As parasites the}' inhal)it the bodies of living 

 plants and animals, and even of other fungi. In some cases 

 they kill their hosts, and in others encourage growth, as in 

 the case of the lichens,!" and between those two extremes 

 various degrees of parasitism occur. As saprophytes they 

 promote the decomposition of dead organic bodies, and thus 

 aid in the production of carbonic acid, water and ammonia, 

 the elements of which return to the course of prganic life." 



Jodin relates that " some fungi absorb as much as six per 

 cent, of their nitrogenous content in the form of nitrogen gas 

 from the atmosphere. In the decomposition of fungi, ammo- 

 nia is formed from the nitrogenous compounds. As parasites 

 and saprophytes their influence as regulators in the economy 

 of nature may be compared with that of the lower animals 

 living the same mode of life." 



* Cellulose iiioislened with iodine tincture and then treated with 

 strong sulphuric acid assumes a hhie color. 



t According to Schwendener, "a lichen is not an individual plant, 

 but rather a connntniity made up of two different kinds of individuals 

 belonging to two distinct classes of cryptogams, viz. : — A master fungus 

 and colonies of algal slaves, which it has sought out, caught hold of, and 

 retains in perjietual ca])ti\ity in order to provide it with nourishment." 



