THE STORY OF THE MOULDS 



By JOHN J. WARD 



Author of "Life Histories of Familiar Plants," "Some Nature Biographies," etc. 

 With Photo-micrographs by the Author 



THE mysterious, fluffy growths known the same height as the trees. Then we 



as " moulds " are famihar intruders should have a mammoth mould forest ; 



in every household. They readily for moulds are but minute mushrooms or 



attack such food materials as jam, cheese, other fungi of proportionately tall growth, 



bread, pickles, ripe fruit, etc., and on Those readers of The Nature Book 



these substances 

 they flourish 

 amazingly, a s 

 ev^ery housewife 

 well knows ; like- 

 wise, old boots, 

 paste, w a 1 1- 

 papers, books, 

 and many other 

 household com- 

 modities o ff e r 

 them suitable 

 quarters. 



Most persons 

 are very much 

 surprised w hen 

 they first learn 

 that each httle 

 fluffy mould 

 patch that ap- 

 pears upon their 

 food, or other 

 materials, is, in 

 reality, a dense, 

 miniature forest ; 



yet such is the case. It is true that the 

 tiny plants that inhabit these forests are 

 not altogether analogous to those with 

 which we are familiar in our woodland 

 ramifies. To make the analogy com- 

 plete we should have to reconstruct the 

 scene somewhat. 



Let us imagine that all the elm, oak, 

 fir, and other large forest trees were 

 felled, and that those weird-looking fungi 

 tiiat stand out boldl}^ in the moist corners 

 of the wood then spread themseh-es all 

 over the land and occupied the place of 

 the trees, and at the same time grew to 



A MOULD FOREST GROWING ON JAIVl, 

 (Magnified 20 diameters.) 



who possess a 

 microscope of 

 low power may, 

 by aid of that 

 instrument, peep 

 into the depths 

 of these mould 

 forests. In the 

 illustration o n 

 this page I have 

 shown a bird's- 

 eye vie\\', as it 

 w ere, of the 

 corner of one of 

 these forests 

 flourishing o n 

 the surface of a 

 pot of jam, as it 

 appears w hen 

 magnified 20 dia- 

 meters. 



Below it is 

 seen to be a 

 dense carpet of 

 felt-like growth, 

 while springing from this are innumerable 

 tall filaments bearing large and con- 

 spicuous heads. This felt-like growth is 

 the vegetative part of the fungus, corre- 

 sponding to the branches and roots of 

 other plants, according as they remain 

 above or penetrate the surface on which 

 they are developing ; while the tall fila- 

 ments with the conspicuous heads may 

 be likened to the flowering branches of 

 other plants. 



Ftmgi, hoM'ever, are entirely devoid 

 of the roots, stems, leaves, and flowers 

 so characteristic of familiar plants ; neither 



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