44 HABITUDES 



But why is it, then, if the same fungi create diseases in 

 Lapland and Senegal, that there is so fatal a difference in 

 the intensity of them at these two places? As the fungi 

 of a poisonous character possess acrid and narcotic proper- 

 ties, it is scarcely necessary to consistency to presume 

 that the same species are everywhere the cause of mala- 

 rious fevers. Yet, if that were an imperative supposition, 

 it would not embarrass the question materially, because 

 naturalists affirm, that the poisonous cryptogami are ren- 

 dered yet more poisonous by increased temperature and 

 moisture. The amanita muscaria, only narcotic or intoxi- 

 cating in Siberia, and used there for the purpose of agree- 

 able exhilaration, is mainly irritating in France and Italy, 

 and therefore, there, a very deadly poison to the mucous 

 surface and nervous system. 



We have an analogous example of the poison-enforcing 

 power of climate in tEe fact, that the common hemp evolves 

 a strong narcotic, in the tropics, while no such excretion 

 is thrown out from it in temperate regions. In the Crimea, 

 the conium maculatum is used as an esculent vegetable. 

 The tendency to cause moulds so intensely expressed in 

 hot climates is seconded by the aggravation of their ac- 

 tivity when produced. It is curious too, that tropical 

 regions excite only the more minute forms in a greater 

 degree, which according to many writers are most poison- 

 ous. " Those that are most injurious, are generally of the 

 microscopic kinds." (Badham.) If too, the excess of rain 

 may make poisonous, in our climate, even the esculent 

 mushrooms, what may we not expect from the influence 

 exerted upon the noxious fungi by the prolonged and 

 heavy rains of the tropics ! 



May we not find a difficulty in believing that the spo- 

 rules of the fungi are absorbable into the circulation? 



