Insects and Mushrooms 



Is a slow combustion, a sort of more active 

 respiration than usual. The luminous emis- 

 sion Is extinguished in the unbreathable gases, 

 nitrogen and carbonic acid; It continues in 

 aerated water; it ceases in water deprived of Its 

 air by boiling. It Is exceedingly faint, how- 

 ever, so much so that It is not perceptible ex- 

 cept in the deepest darkness. At night and 

 -even by day, If the eyes have been prepared 

 for it by a preliminary wait in the darkness of 

 a cellar, this agaric is a wonderful sight, look- 

 ing Indeed like a piece of the full moon. 



Now^ w^hat do the vermin do? Are they 

 drawn by this beacon? In no wise: maggots. 

 Caterpillars and Slugs never touch the re- 

 splendent mushroom. Let us not be too quick 

 to explain this refusal by the noxious proper- 

 ties of the olive-tree agaric, which is said to be 

 extremely poisonous. Here, In fact, on the 

 pebbly ground of the wastelands. Is the eryngo 

 agaric {Pleurotus eryngii, D. c), w^hlch has 

 the same consistency as the other. It Is the 

 berigoulo of the Provencaux, one of the most 

 highly-esteemed mushrooms. Well, the ver- 

 min will have none of It: what is a treat to us 

 is detestable to them. 



It Is superfluous to continue this method of 

 investigation : the reply would be everywhere 

 419 



