96 QUART ERLYJOURNAL. 



common and even acute observation. May there not be others 

 yet undiscovered, w^hich deeply affect the delicate machinery of 

 organic life ?" 



9. Fungus. I cannot do better on this point than present the 

 curious and interesting communications of Mr. Teschemacher, of 

 Eoston, unless they occupy too much space. It is the only ex- 

 amination conducted scientifically which I have seen. They are 

 taken from the " New England Farmer." 



, NUMBER ONE. 



Mr. Breck — Mr. James Brown having kindly brought me 

 some of the potatoes infested with the disease which has this year 

 committed such ravages on this vegetable, I proceeded at once to 

 investigate the subject. 



The peculiar smell, and the reputed poisonous qualities of this 

 diseased potatoe, made me nearly certain that it was a species of 

 fungus — a position which I think has been confirmed by my ex- 

 amination with the microscope. 



The appearances which I examined were — 



1st. A nearly black discoloration of the potatoe, just below the 

 skin, penetrating about one-sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch 

 into the substance, and apparently through the skin, in little black, 

 indented tumifications, like pustules. It is probable that in these 

 holes the vegetation of the fungus first begins, and spreads under- 

 neath. 



2d. On the surface of the skin, where these pustules were 

 enlarged, there had been produced a greyish, slimy substance, of a 

 very offensive smell. 



The black mass, divided in a drop of distilled water, exhibited 

 under the microscope a number of long and oval, very irregularly 

 shaped dark bodies, interspersed among the cells of the potatoe. 

 Many of these cells appeared lacerated, but this might partly have 

 been produced by the mechanical action of dividing, although I 

 think not altogether. The greyish slimy mass was semi-transpa- 

 parent and indistinct, even mixed with distilled water, and ex- 

 posed to the strongest light I could throw. 



In order to discover a remedy for this disease, I decided on ap- 

 plying various substances to this fungus, with a view of effecting 

 its decomposition, and examining their action under a microscope. 



