FUNGI 513 



Experiment Calculation 



Carbon . 7'9 C 4 . . 24 . . 8'0 



Nitrogen . 9*2 N 3 . . 28 . . 9'3 



Silver .... 72'2 Ag 2 . . 216 . . 72-0 



Oxygen .... 107 0* . * 32 . . 107 



100-0 300 100-0 



C. G. W. 



FUXiMnariC ACID, C 4 N 2 H 2 4 (C'N-'H'O 2 ). The acid contained in fulminating 

 mercury ; it does not appear to exist in a free state. 



FUMIGATION 1 is the employment of fumes or vapours to purify articles of 

 apparel, and goods or apartments supposed to be imbued with some infectious or con- 

 tagious poison or fumes. The vapours of vinegar, the fumes of burning sulphur, 

 or explosion of gunpowder, have been long prescribed and practised, but they have in 

 all probability little or no efficacy. The diffusion of such powerful agents as chlorine 

 gas, muriatic acid gas, or nitric acid vapour, should alone be trusted to for the 

 destruction of morbific effluvia. See DISINFECTANTS. 



FUMITORY. A bitter herb, Fumaria offieinalis. It grows abundantly in this 

 country, and was at one time used in medicine. The name is derived from the Latin 

 wovdfumus, smoke, on account of its smoke-like smell. The French call itfumeterre, 

 whence our name fumitory. 



FUNGI. One of the orders into which the Thdllogence are divided, comprehending 

 the mushrooms. The fungi are cellular plants, which generally appear in the form 

 of a more or less rounded thollus supported upon a stalk, and with spores or seeds on 

 the under surface or gills, or, as it is called, the hymenium. Upwards of 4,000 species 

 of fungi have been enumerated by botanists. All matter, and especially organic 

 matter, may become productive soil for many species. The parasitic fungi are very 

 serious agents of destruction, and the cereals and other useful plants are often entirely 

 destroyed or rendered poisonous by their appearance. The mildew of wheat, Puccinia 

 graminis ; the smut, Uredo segetum ; the bunt, Uredo foetida ; the ergot or cock's 

 spur, Sperm&dia claru#, which, without destroying the crops, renders the grain 

 poisonous for food : the potato disease, which is intimately connected with the attack 

 of a species of Botrytis (Peronospora) infestans, as are also diseases of many of 

 the ordinary vegetables, are some of the minute and destructive kinds of fungi. Some 

 of these parasitic fungi grow on living animals ; the non-secretion of the silkworm is 

 due to the fungus Botrytis Bassiana. A certain species of caterpillar is attacked by the 

 fungus SphcBria Sinensis, and the animal becomes perfectly absorbed in the vegetable, 

 and this substance is collected and used as a highly-prized drug among the Chinese. 

 A very large class of fungi bears the name of mushroom ; many of these species are 

 edible, while others are more or less poisonous. The Agaricus muscaria is used by the 

 natives of Kamtschatka and Korea to produce intoxication : of the edible kinds the 

 Agaricus campestris is most used in this country as an article of food, and from it is 

 obtained the sauce called Ketchup, or Catsup ; this species is considered poisonous in 

 Italy, while many others eaten in foreign countries are considered here unfit for food. 

 The fairy-ring mushroom, Agaricus pratensis, is also an edible plant, and is used for 

 mixing with rich sauces. The truffle, Tuber cibarium, is also a mushroom. The com- 

 mercial value of this fungus is very great. Beyond these there are none of the fungi 

 which have any practical uses in this country. In Kome it is stated that the yearly 

 average of taxed mushrooms, from 1837 to 1847, was between 60,000 and 80,000 Ibs. 

 weight. The Cyttaria Darwinii, growing on the bark of the beech in Tierra del Fuego 

 and in Australia ; and species of the Boletus, especially one called native bread, Mytittus 

 Australia, are much used by the respective natives as food. Some species of fungi are 

 phosphorescent ; the Rhizomorpha, one of these, is said to give to caves and mines 

 where it abounds an indescribable splendour. Many of the smaller fungi are 

 most destructive in their nature, as remarked previously. Fungous formations have 

 been detected in our cotton goods sent to India, and the result has been most 

 serious to our trade in these goods. 



As many deaths have occurred by mistaking poisonous for edible fungi, it may be 

 useful to point out the chief marks of distinction between the two classes. The cha- 

 racters have been thus contrasted by Prof. Bentley : 



Edible Mushrooms. 



1. Grow solitary, in dry, airy places. 



2. Generally white or brownish. 



3. Have a compact, brittle flesh, 



VOL. II. L L 



Poisonous Mushrooms. 



Grow in clusters, in woods, and dark 



damp places. 



Usually with bright colours. 

 Flesh tough, soft, and watery. 



