THE ROT PRECEDES THE FUNGUS. 287 



firm, that, in as far as air is concerned, the fabric is 



ventilator all over. 



But fungi, by what names soever they may be 



I called, are not locomotive destroyers ; they do not, 

 full-grown, career over the land and the waters, to 

 prey upon sound timber, as hawks do to prey upon 



, birds, or wolves to prey upon sheep. The spora, or 

 whatever else the small, and generally invisible 

 germes of the fungus may be called, are perfectly 

 passive, and of themselves can do no more harm to 

 an oak beam than could be done by a mustard-seed. 

 The soil in which alone it can germinate, or begin 

 its action, is rotted wood. If it meet with that, it 

 will germinate ; if not, it will remain inactive. There 

 is no doubt that the increasing quantity of rotted 

 timber has increased the number of those plants ; 

 but that it has in no way altered the law of their na- 

 ture, which is to grow in rotten wood, but not in 

 wood which is sound. The only rational view of 

 the case, therefore, is that the timber must be rot- 

 ten before the fungus can act even in the slightest 

 degree ; and that, consequently, the fungus is pro- 

 duced by the rot, and not the rot by the fungus ; and 

 though the fungus is destroyed, the rot will go on 

 probably as fast as if the fungus were not there; 

 only as the fungus has a great attraction for moist- 

 ure, and as moisture, though not the cause, is an in- 

 strument in producing the rot, the fungus may, when 

 it appears, hasten the destruction. 



It has been thought advisable to go into this case 

 at some length ; first, because it is a highly important 

 one one of the most important to which the atten- 

 tion of a maritime people can be turned ; and, 

 secondly, because it shows how dangerous it is to 

 proceed upon mere human opinion, however learned 

 the holder of that opinion may be, if it is not borne 



' out by facts which have been found out and estab- 



' lished by a careful and thorough observation of 



