THE PAGE OF NATURE. 229 



abundance in the London docks. The dim vaults, with 

 their vistas of casks, extending in the darkness farther 

 than eye can reach, are festooned with this fungoid 

 cobweb hanging from the roof like a soft and comfor- 

 table form of stalactite, in the strangest forms and in 

 immense masses. It begins as an incrustation resem- 

 bling white cotton wool forming on the brickwork of the 

 vault, and as it grows, descending in irregular shapes, 

 hanging down a foot or two in length, and changing to a 

 dingy brown colour, very like a mouse-skin. The men who 

 live in the place are proud of this extraordinary fungus, 

 which carries out the convivial aspect imparted by the 

 wine casks ; it is never interfered with, and they point 

 out any larger mass than usual with some complacency. 

 As a singular instance of the ease with which these 

 plants can accommodate themselves to surrounding cir- 

 cumstances, it may be mentioned that several species of 

 fungi called snow moulds, somewhat allied to the common 

 moulds of our cupboards, are found growing on the barren 

 and unpropitious snow. One of these, called Chionype, was 

 first discovered in the north of Iceland ; but two other 

 species have since occurred in Germany in great abund- 

 ance. The Chionype is developed on the snow in clear 

 Aveather, when the sun has power enough to melt the upper 

 crust, without the existence of a general thaw ; and in all 

 probability springs from the droppings or the urine of 

 animals decomposed in the snow. It spreads over the sur- 

 face of the snow in shining fleecy patches, dotted with red 

 or green particles. When the snow melts, it is left behind 

 upon the underlying grass in the form of a cobweb stratum, 

 which in a few days disappears. Another species of 



