MUSHROOMS 165 



mushrooms is still a faery ring, and suggests not decay but 



the elves : 



The nimble elves 



That do by moonlight green sour ringlets make 

 Whereof the ewe bites not ; whose pastime 'tis 

 To make these midnight mushrooms. 



Only the rings are not sour, but green from excess of the 

 nitrogen which is the master attribute of growth, and which 

 the fungus makes available. 



