FUNGI. 



the air ; some dry of themselves on the ground, and are said to be 

 far more narcotic than those artificially preserved. Small deep- 

 coloured specimens thickly covered with wart* are also said to be 

 more powerful than those of a larger size and paler colour. The 

 usual mode of taking the fungus is to roll it up like a bolus and 

 swallow it without chewing, which the Kamatehtkadales say would 

 disorder the stomach. It is sometimes eaten fresh in soups and 

 rauces, and then loses much of its intoxicating property. \Vln-n 

 steeped in the juice of the berries of I'tiffinum uliyinoium its effects 

 are those of a strong wine. One large or two small Fungi are a 

 common dose to produce a pleasant intoxication for a whole day, 

 particularly if water he drunk after it, which augments the narcotic 

 pi ineiple. The desired effect comes on from one to two hours after 

 taking the fungus. Giddiness and drunkenness result in the same 

 manner as from wine or spirits : cheerful emotions of the mind are 

 first produced, the countenance becomes flushed, involuntary words 

 and actions follow, and sometimes at last an entire loss of conscious- 

 ness. It renders some remarkably active, and proves highly .stimu- 

 lating to muscular exertion. By too large a dose violent spasmodic 

 effects are produced. So very exciting to the nervous system in many 

 individuals is this fungus that the effects are often very ludicrous. 

 If a person under its influence wishes to step over a straw or a small 

 stick, he takes a stride or a jump sufficient to clear the trunk of a tree. 

 A talkative person cannot keep silence or secrets, and one fond of 

 music is perpetually singing. The most singular effect of the 

 Amanitu is the influence it possesses over the urine. It is said that 

 from time immemorial the inhabitants have known that the fungus 

 imparts an intoxicating quality to that secretion, which continues for 

 a considerable time after taking it. For instance, a man moderately 

 intoxicated to-day will by the next morning have slept himself sober, 

 but (as is the custom) by taking a tea-cup of his urine he will be more 

 powerfully intoxicated than he was the preceding day. It ia there- 

 fore not uncommon for confirmed drunkards to preserve their urine 

 as a precious liquor against a scarcity of the fungus. The intoxi- 

 cating property of the urine is capable of being propagated, for every 

 one who partakes of it has hia urine similarly effected. Thus, with a 

 very few Amanita a party of dninkards may keep up their debauch 

 for a week. Dr. Langsdorf mentions that by means of the second 

 person taking the urine of the first, the third of the second, and so 

 on, tbe intoxication may be propagated through five individuals." 



71 are often phosphorescent The light given out by species of 

 Rhisomorpha I KIIIZOMOKPHA] in the coal-mines of Dresden is described 

 as giving them the appearance of an enchanted castle. Agaricut 

 Gardneri, which grows on a sort of palm called Britada in Brazil, is 

 highly luminous. The same phenomenon has been observed in A. 

 olraria* in the south of Europe, and in two species of Funyi at Swan 

 Hirer. Dr. Hooker describes a luminous fungus aa growing upon 

 decaying wood in the forests of the Sikkim Himalaya. 



It is generally stated that Funyi differ from the rest of the vege- 

 table kingdom, in the absorption of oxygen and the disengagement of 

 carbonic acid gas. In experiments which have been performed, this 

 has been the result ; but it is well known that the tissues of Funyi 

 are easily decomposable, and it is more probable that the absorption 

 of oxygen and the giving out of carbonic acid gas ia the result of 

 decay, rather than of the true growth of the plant The following 

 sulwtances were found by Payen in his analysis of Fungi : 1. Water ; 

 2. Cellulose ; 3. Three Nitrogenised Substances ; 4. Fatty Matters ; 

 5. Sugar ; 6. Volatile Hatter ; 7. Sulphur ; 8. Salts, containing Silex 

 and Potash. These substances are analogous to the ordinary products 

 of the decomposition of water, ammonia, and carbonic acid by deoxi- 

 ilation, and must either be formed by that process in the fungus 

 itwlf, or taken directly up from the substances on which they grow, 

 by absorption. 



A curious fact connected with the development of Funyi is the 

 occurrence of vegetable cells, referred to this order, in liquids under- 

 going fermentation. During the conversion of malt into beer, plant- 

 cells are constantly observed to be present, and these have been 

 described as a plant, under the name of Xaccliaromycn C 

 During the preparation of flax, as now carried on at Belfast, Professor 

 AUnian lias observed present cells resembling those of N , /wom.yw. 

 Whether these are true plant-cells or not, is still a question ; an. I 'it is 

 still more a question as to whether they have anything to do with the 

 changes going on in the solutions in which they occur. This point is 

 alluded to in the article KXTIUMIYTA. They are probably a result, 

 and not the cause, of fermentation. These cells have not escaped 

 the observation of Schleiden, and the following is his account of 

 them : 



" In the hut place, I must mention a highly interesting analogy, 

 which, when more accurately examined, may perhaps one day lead to 

 the most satisfactory explanation of the process of cell-formation I 

 mean vinous fermentation. We have here a fluid in which sugar and 

 dextrin, and a nitrogenous matter, as a cytoblost, are present. At a 

 certain temperature, which is perhaps necessary to the chemical 

 activity of the mucus, there originates, without, as it appears, the 

 influence of a living plant, a process of cell-formation (the origin of 

 the so-called fermentation-fungus), and it appears that it is only the 

 vegetation of these cells which produces the peculiar changes that 

 occur in the fluid. Whether this organism is really a fungus, is a 



FUNGI. 



MM 



matter of indifference ; but whether it alone, through the ncti . 



its vital processes, determines the process of fermentation, deserves to 



be accurately determined. 



" 1 will hero add my own observations on these fermentation-cells. 

 I bruised some currants with sugar, and, having pressed the juice 

 through a cloth, diluted it with water and filtered through folded 

 paper. Thf fluid was bright red, quite clear and transparent, and, 

 under the microscope, showed no trace of grannies, but preset r 

 number of little drops of a pure clear oil. At the end of tw. -nt y-foiir 

 hours the whole fluid was opalescent, and presented, under Hi.- micro- 

 scope, a number of granules suspended in it. On the second day 

 these granules had greatly increased, and there appeared amongst 

 them perfectly-formed ferment-cells. There also appeared, now and 

 then, vesicles of carbonic acid gas. On the fourth day fenm-ir 

 was very active. At the bottom of the vessel and on the surface of 

 the fluid, yeast had formed ; but these yeasts consisted of singl 

 or several attached one to another. In the solitary cells could l>e 

 observed the way in which one cell was formed from another. The 

 ferment-cells do not in this state permit of a distinction between the 

 contents and the membrane of the cell. In the midst of the cell 

 there is a transparent spot; but whether hollow, or a solid in 

 I could not decide. The remaining parts appeared entirely homoge- 

 neous, yellowish like a nitrogenous substance, sometimes mixed with 

 small solitary granules. In a similar way, a solution of sugar with 

 elder-flowers was examined, and gave similar results. Other i 

 were obtained in the following way : Pure white protein (albumen) 

 from the white of an egg, was dried, and rubbed down witli 

 and left to ferment : the fluid at first was perfectly clear. On the 

 third day, the small portions of protein, which at the comn 

 nient exhibited a sharply angular aspect, assumed partly a granular 

 aspect, and some a more or less rounded form. These globules 

 showed an active molecular movement, and some appeared strung 

 together. On the fourth day there was seen between these granules 

 round or elongated cells, which were either solitary, or arranged 

 together in a line with a tendency to the formation of branched fibres. 

 These cells were not more than one-third of the diameter of ordinary 

 ferment-cells. An active fermentation went on, and gas-bubbles weiv 

 given out from the protein-granules and the linear cells. Proper 

 ferment-cells did not make their appearance. Fluid albumen, mixed 

 with sugar, and filtered, became thickened ou the second day, and 

 contained little granules of albumen (coagulated?). The further 

 phenomena were similar to those exhibited by the preceding, except 

 that there were developed a few true ferment-cells. Protein moistened 

 with water displayed the same appearances as when mixed with sugar 

 and water; ultimately putrefaction came on, and the develop],, 

 Infusoria, but the vegetable formation preceded. There appears to 

 be two very different types of ferment-cella, according as the fluid 

 contains organic acids and essential oils or not. From the phein 

 exhibited by the ferment-cells, one might be inclined to ivirard them 

 as similar to animal-cells, which are formed through a cavity in the 

 cytoblost, and which afford indications of the nucleoli in their highest 

 development. But thia analogy is not tenable, and the above o! 

 tions must be regarded as imperfect If we take fully-devi 

 ferment-cells, and treat them with ether, alcohol, or caustic alkalies, 

 there will be found in the fluid a number of globular delicate cells, 

 with thin but clearly distinguishable walls, which contain a clear fluid, 

 with here and there very small granules, which, alone or in groups, 

 arc attached to the inner surface, of the cell-wall, and (almost?) 

 always a largo round flat body (a cy toblost ? )." 



The classification of Fungi has occupied the attention of many 

 observers. That of Fries is the foundation of most of the systems 

 adopted by modern wri< 



Fries in the first place divides the whole order into four Cohorts, 

 distinguished by the following characters : 



Cohort I. HYMKNOMTCETES. A llynieuiuni pn sent ; that i*. the 

 fungus opened out into a fructifying membrane, in win -h the 

 spores (seeds) arc placed, usually in the inside of aaci (transparent 

 simple coses). The texture wholly filamentous. 



Cohort II. PVIIKXOMVCKTES. A IVrithecinm present; that is, the 

 fungus closed up ; then perforated by a hole or irregular laeer., 

 and inclosing a distinct kernel holding asci. Texture olwuivly 

 cellular; that of the stroma (receptacle) somewhat filamentous. 



Cohort III. <JATBUOMYCETES. A Pcridium present; that i-. the 

 fungus at first closed up, and containing loose spores having no 

 asci. The texture cellular. 



Cohort IV. CONIOMTCETES, Spores naked ; that is, the fungus in its 

 elementary state, eventually having the spores quite naked, 

 although they may have been covered at first. Tin- texture 

 between filamentous and cellular; and the thallus often appan ntly 

 absent. 



Ib- then subdivides these cohorts each into fourOrdera, oa follows : 



Cohort I. HYMEXOMYCETES. 

 Order 1. Piltati. The Hyiuenium on the under side, and having asci. 



(Fig. 1, Agarictu.) 



Order 2 El,;. 'hi,, i. The Hymeuium on the upper side, and having 

 asci. (Pig. 2, MonMla.) 



