FUNGOUS VEGETATION IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 



49 



. 91 ) ; though experiment shows it to be more likely, that they 

 are conveyed in the water which drains through the soil, and 



FIG. 17. JECIDIVM CANCELLATUM ; , a leaf upon which it is seen growing of the 

 natural size ; b, peridia, magnified. 



that they are introduced into the system with the fluid which is 

 absorbed. In that case they must be almost immeasurably 

 small ; since it is known, that the minutest particles of any sub- 

 stance which can be artificially obtained, are usually rejected by 

 the roots, as too large, when diffused through water which is 

 being absorbed through their pores. 



53. Animals are liable, as well as plants, to the growth of 

 Fungi within their bodies. There is a species of Wasp in the 

 West Indies, of which individuals are often seen flying about 

 with plants of their own length, projecting from some part of 

 their surface ; the germs of these having been originally intro- 

 duced, probably through the breathing pores at their sides, 

 (ANIM. PHYSIOL. . 320), and taking root, as it were, in their 

 substance, so as to develope a luxuriant vegetation. In time, 

 however, the fungous growth spreads through the body, and 

 destroys the life of the insect ; and it then seems to grow more 

 rapidly, the decomposing tissue of the dead body being still 

 more adapted than the living structure, to afford it nutriment. 



