USES OF MUSHROOMS. 235 



formed from mycelium filling in cracks in old logs or between boards 

 in lumber piles. Sometimes extensive sheets of this punk are found 

 several feet long and a foot or more wide. These sheets of pure 

 mycelium resemble soft chamois skin or soiled kid leather. 



Mushrooms employed for flower pots. In Bohemia (according to 

 Cooke, Fungi, etc., p. 103) hoof-shaped fruit bodies of Polyporus 

 fomentarius and igniarius are used for flower pots. The inner, or 

 tube portion, is cut out. The hoof-shaped portion, then inverted 

 and fastened to the side of a building or place of support, serves as 

 a receptacle for soil in which plants are grown. 



Curios. The Polyporus applanatus is much sought by some per- 

 sons as a " curio," and also for the purpose of etching. In the latter 

 case they serve as pastels for a variety of art purposes. The under 

 surface of the plant is white. All collectors of this plant know that 

 to preserve the white fruiting surface in a perfect condition it must 

 be handled very carefully. A touch or bruise, or contact with other 

 objects mars the surface, since a bruise or a scratch results in a 

 rapid change in color of the injured surface. Beautiful etchings can 

 thus be made with a fine pointed instrument, the lines of color 

 appearing as the instrument is drawn over the surface. 



Fungi for medicinal purposes. A number of the fungi were formerly 

 employed in medicine for various purposes, but most of them have 

 been discarded. Some of the plants were once used as a purgative, 

 as in the case of the officinal polyporus, the great puff ball, etc. 

 The internal portion of the great puff ball has been used as an 

 anodyne, and ''formidable surgical operations have been performed 

 under its influence." It is frequently used as a narcotic. Some 

 species are employed as drugs by the Chinese. The anthelmintic 

 polyporus is employed in Burmah as a vermifuge. The ergot of rye 

 is still employed to some extent in medicine, and the ripe puff balls 

 are still used in some cases to stop bleeding of wounds. 



Luminosity of fungi. While the luminosity possessed by certain 

 fungi cannot be said to be of distinct utility, their phosphorescence 

 is a noteworthy phenomenon. That decaying wood often emits this 

 phosphorescent light has been widely observed, especially in wooded 

 districts. It is due to the presence of the mycelium of one of the 

 wood destroying fungi. The luminosity is often so bright that when 

 brought near a printed page in the dark, words can be read. Haw- 

 thorne " reported the light from an improvised torch of mycelium 

 infected wood, to have carried him safely several miles through an 

 otherwise impassable forest." (Asa Gray, Bull. 7: 7, 1900). The 

 sulphur polyporus is said sometimes to be phosphorescent. The 



