INFLUENCES AND EFFECTS. 217 



a wood in September or October than in January or May. 

 Dreadful effects are said to be produced by a species of black 

 rust which attacks the large South of Europe reed, Arundo donax. 

 This is in all probability the same species with that which 

 attacks Arundo pliragmitis in this country, the spores of which 

 produce violent headaches and other disorders amongst the 

 labourers who cut the reeds for thatching. M. Michel states 

 that the spores from the parasite on Arundo donax, either inhaled 

 or injected, produce violent papular eruption on the face, 

 attended with great swelling, and a variety of alarming symp- 

 toms which it is unnecessary to particularize, in various parts of 

 the body.* Perhaps if Sarcina should ultimately prove to be a 

 fungus, it may be added to the list of those which aggravate, if 

 they are not the primary cause of, disease in the human subject. 

 II. What influences can be attributed to fungi upon animals 

 other than man ? Clearly instinct preserves animals from many 

 dangers. It may be presumed that under ordinary circum- 

 stances there is not much fear of a cow or a sheep poisoning 

 itself in a pasture or a wood. But under extraordinary 

 circumstances it is not only possible, but very probable, that 

 injuries may occur. For instance, it is well known that not 

 only rye and wheat, but also many of the grasses, are liable to 

 infection from a peculiar form of fungus called " ergot." In 

 certain seasons this ergot is much more common than others, 

 and the belief is strong in those who ought to know something 

 of the subject from experience, viz., farmers and graziers, that in 

 such seasons it is not uncommon for cattle to slip their young 

 through feeding on ergotized grass. Then, again, it is fairly 

 open to inquiry whether, in years when "red rust" and 

 "mildew" are more than usually plentiful on grasses, these 

 may not be to a certain extent injurious. Without attempting 

 to associate the cattle plague in any way with fungi on 

 grass, it is nevertheless a most remarkable coincidence that 

 the year in which the cattle disease was most prevalent in 

 this country was one in which there was at least in some 

 districts more "red rust" on grasses than we ever remem- 

 * " Gardener's Chronicle," March 26, 1864. 



