1G FIRST STEPS IX GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



whether fungi are merely different states of decay- 

 ing vegetable matter, it is quite impossible to say ; 

 but this we know, that in a single fungus, a 

 botanist (M. Fries) reckoned ten millions of seeds, 

 or sporules, as they are called ; and these, which 

 are carried about like thin smoke, may be conveyed 

 by insects, elasticity, adhesion, or other causes, into 

 remote places, and spring up when they find a 

 substance suited to their growth." 



"How could any one reckon ten millions?" 

 asked Henry. " I have heard that it would take 

 about a fortnight to count one million." 



"In reckoning such minute substances, we do 

 not, of course, count one by one throughout, but 

 after finding out how many there are in a certain 

 space, we multiply the others by them. Thus, if 

 I wished to reckon the sweet peas your mamma 

 is sowing in the garden, I would fill a small 

 measure with the seed, and if I found that it 

 contained two hundred seeds, I should afterwards 

 know that every time I filled it there would be 

 that number, or very nearly. Before we leave the 

 fungi, I must tell you that they are far more 

 numerous in many foreign countries than in our 

 own. In Australia, for instance, they are much 



