1859.] woAD. * 299 



occur. The ^ph(sr%(B grow chiefly on dead branches of trees, and 

 almost every kind of tree has its peculiar species. 



I may here make a few remarks and give a few hints on the 

 microscopic examination of Fungi. 



The Agarics and other allied genera generally shed their spores 

 spontaneously when mature, and the best manner of collecting 

 these for observation is, to cut off the pileus from the stem, and 

 place it with the gills (or pores) downwards on one of the slips 

 of glass with which every good microscope is furnished. In the 

 course of a few hours there is usually a sufficiently copious deposit 

 of spores, and the student is enabled to ascertain both the colour, 

 and, which is sometimes of importance, the shape of these. The 

 colour is best perceived by viewing them en masse, and the shape 

 by viewing them as transparent objects under the microscope. 

 In some genera, as Peziza, Morchella, Hysterium, etc., the best 

 mode of ascertaining and studying the structure is to cut off a 

 thin vertical slice of the Fungus, and after moistening it with a 

 drop or two of water, submit it to pressure between two slips of 

 glass, and then examine it. In the genus Sphceria a portion of 

 the gelatinous mass contained in the perithecia must be taken 

 and pressed between slips of glass, with a little water, as above. 

 Some of the simple Sph(2ri(B are so small that it is necessary to 

 break up the entire plant by pressure before a knowledge of its 

 structure can be obtained. In the more delicate kinds of Fungi, 

 as the Moulds, etc., much pressure is unnecessary, but a certain 

 degree of moisture, varying with the texture of the Fungus, is 

 a great assistance in microscopic examination. 



K good compound microscope is indispensable to the student 

 of the Fungi; and a simple one, of the description known as 

 " dissecting microscopes,'' is very useful, both for making dissec- 

 tions and for examining the outward conformation. 



WOAD. 

 The Woad, Isatis tinctoria. By W. V. Guise. 



I have read with interest a paper by my friend Mr. Lees on 

 the 'Woad' in the August number of the ' Phytologist,' to 

 which I beg permission to add some remarks, which had indeed 



