22 CRYPTOGAMIA. 



less circumstances favorable to their vegetation occur. 

 " Earth," says Dr. Smith, " taken from a considerable depth 

 and exposed to the air, will soon be covered with young 

 plants, especially Thistles, and the Mustard kind." 1 be- 

 lieve, in such cases, no one has attempted to account for the 

 fact in any other manner, than by supposing that the seeds oi 

 these plants lay dormant, until exposed to heat and light, or 

 to conditions proper for their vegetation. Besides, if the 

 Fungus tribes are fortuitous productions, their number of 

 species must be infinite, for then any change in the condi- 

 tions necessary to produce one species, would certainly pro- 

 duce a new one, and as soil, heat, and moisture, are subject 

 to perpetual variations all over the world, so the number of 

 species, or varieties, would be proportionate to the variations 

 of such conditions. 



In respect to the actual number of species belonging to 

 this order, no estimate can be made. The number described 

 by Sprengel, is about 2800, besides which other authors have 

 described at least half as many more, so that the number of 

 species arranged in botanical works amount to between 4000 

 and 5000. The Swedish cryptogamist, Fries, discovered no 

 less than 2000 species of Fungi, within the compass of a 

 square furlong, in Sweden. Nearly all that have been de- 

 scribed, belong to the northern and temperate regions, the 

 tropical species being almost unknown to authors. In North 

 America, Prof. Torrey has estimated that there are about 

 3000 known species of this order. Many species of this 

 tribe are used as food in various parts of the world, but by far 

 the greater majority of the whole tribe are poisonous. 



In some parts of Kamtschatka the people are said to intoxi- 

 cate themselves with a species of Fungi, for the same rea- 

 son that the people of other nations drink wine and spirits. 

 The species used for this purpose, is the Amanita mnscaria. 

 These are gathered during the warm season, and hung up by 

 strings to dry, for future use. Sometimes this is used in 

 soups and sauces, but the more common method is to swal- 

 low a small piece without chewing it, and to repeat this until 

 the effect is such as to be satisfactory to the taker. One 

 large, or two small Fungi, is the common dose when the per- 

 son desires to have his pleasant sensations, or intoxication, 

 continue for the whole day. Cheerful emotions are first 

 produced, after which a variety of ludicrous actions, and 

 often much silly talk follows. On some it produces very 



