2 A PLAIN AND EASY ACCOUNT 



botanists " know little or nothing about them. That 

 part of our scientific literature which is devoted to them 

 is remarkably scanty ; and the young student, or the 

 operative botanist, whose means are limited, inquires 

 in vain for assistance in gaining even a slight know- 

 ledge of a very interesting section of our Flora. For 

 such we can scarce hope to accomplish much ; but 

 even this little may not prove unwelcome. Whilst 

 manuals of flowering plants, with or without illus- 

 trations, are abundant, no corresponding guides to 

 cryptogams can be found equally complete, cheap, or 

 useful. 



The Spitalfields weaver, who gets away into the 

 country whenever a half-holiday falls to his lot, for the 

 purpose of adding to his humble herbarium, or becoming 

 better acquainted with the Flora of his native land, 

 must look upon the lichen or fungus as objects reserved 

 for the study of those who can better afford the neces- 

 sary literary assistance. Although this may still be 

 asserted, with equal justice, when our work is accom- 

 plished ; yet if we succeed in exciting an interest 

 amongst only a few readers, this may hasten the time 

 when the desideratum shall be supplied. 



To say that fungi may be found everywhere, would 

 not perhaps be always literally true ; but to say where 

 they are not to be found, under any circumstances, 

 would be puzzling. Not only are shady woods, mossy 

 dells, secluded lanes, and green pastures, the habitats 

 of fungi, but we meet with them in almost every 

 situation where vegetable life is possible, and traces 



