80 A PLAIN AND EASY ACCOUNT 



of more active properties than the majority of the mem- 

 bers of this genus possess. During decomposition this 

 plant emits a bright phosphorescent light, a feature not 

 common in our native fungi, and which makes this an 

 object of ciiriosity, although we need scarcely add that 

 it is entirely unfit for food. 



The dry-rot of oak-built vessels is a species belong- 

 ing to this genus (P. hybridus), whilst the common 

 dry-rot of fir timber is a species of Merulius. 



A curious leathery substance, known under the name 

 of Amadou, or German tinder, found in tobacconists' 

 shops, occasionally in sheets, or irregularly-shaped pieces, 

 but more commonly manufactured into fusees, gives but 

 little external evidence of its fungoid origin. This sub- 

 stance is obtained from several species of Polyporus, 

 and consists of slices of these hard and corky Fungi, 

 beaten out till they have become quite soft and flexible, 

 then saturated in a solution of saltpetre and dried. At 

 one time it was rather extensively employed in medical 

 practice as a styptic, but is now seldom resorted to in 

 England. On the Continent it is still an article of 

 commerce, and in Northern Europe the smoker would 

 almost as soon think of venturing abroad without his 

 tobacco and pipe as without a supply of Amadou to 

 rekindle his extinguished fire. One of the species usually 

 employed in the manufacture of this article is P.fomen- 

 tarius, a stemless species common on the trunks of trees. 



Trametes and Dcedalea are genera containing no 

 species of economic value. The latter includes a 

 fungus which, from its corky, rugged nature and 



