or MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS. 87 



very beautiful, but are so minute as to require a high mag- 

 nifying power to show them. The mould which forms on 

 many substances is a fungus, and in some cases may be 

 dried and preserved in its natural state. A friend of mine 

 brought me a rose-bush completely covered with a white 

 blight. This was found to be a fungus, which required a 

 high magnifying power to show it. Being a very interesting 

 object, it was desirable to preserve it, and this was perfectly 

 effected without injury to the form by simply drying the 

 leaf in a room usually occupied. Amongst the fungi are 

 many objects well worth looking for, one of which is the 

 DiaclifRd elegans. This, the only species, says the Micro- 

 graphic Dictionary, is found in England upon the living 

 leaves of the lily-of-the-valley, &e. These little plants grow 

 in masses, reminding one of mould, to a height of a quarter 

 of an inch, and each " stem " is covered with a sheath, in 

 shape somewhat like an elongated thimble. When ripe the 

 sheath falls off and reveals the same shaped column, made 

 up of beautifully fine network, with the spores lying here and 

 there. This dries well, and is a good object for the middle 

 powers. Amongst the fungi the blights of wheat and or" 

 other articles of food may be included. Many of them may 

 be mounted dry ; others, however, cannot be well pre- 

 served except in liquids, and will be referred to in Chap- 

 ter V. When rambling in a wood during the summer I sat 

 down upon the fallen trunk of a tree, and here and there a 

 few minute white spots caught my eye. I took my Cod- 

 dington lens from my side-pocket and applied it to these. 

 Judge of my surprise when I found each white speck a 

 distinctly formed fungus resembling in size and form, to an 

 amusing similarity, a disc of the arachnoidiscus. They were 

 already dry, and I mounted them as ordinary dry objects ; 

 and hitherto no change has taken place which I can detect. 

 Amongst the zoophytes and sea-mats, commonly called 

 sea-weeds, may be found very many interesting objects to 

 be mounted dry. When this mode of preservation is used, 

 it is necessary that all the sea-salt be thoroughly washed 



