Il8 THE WOODLANDS. 



moisture the cups expand, and will be more easily 

 detected. 



There is one group of fungi which had well-nigh 

 been forgotten, and these are the Puff-balls. All 

 schoolboys know the " snuff-boxes," as they call them 

 in some districts, and delight to puff them in each 

 other's faces : a dangerous operation to eyes and 

 throat, since swallowing a puff of this dust was nearly 

 fatal to a gentleman in Edinburgh a year or two 

 since. These Puff-balls grow upon the ground, or on 

 old stumps; when young, nearly white and juicy, 

 when old, brownish, and full of snuff-coloured spores. 



The great Puff-ball, as large as a man's head, or 

 larger, grows in fields and gardens, and on banks, and 

 when young affords a most delicious meal, after being 

 sliced and fried in butter or fat. 



STARRY PUFF-BALL. 



The most interesting of the Puff-ball family are 

 the stellate puff-balls. We have collected a hun- 

 dred of them sometimes in a few minutes, in a small 

 grove of fir-trees. These balls have a double coat ; 

 the outer one is thick, and splits from the top 

 in a radiating manner, each segment falling back 



