CHAPTER IX. 



Want of more extensive acquaintance -witli the minute parasitic 

 fungi— Proofs of this— Untenable notion of spontaneous gene- 

 ration—More inquiry needed into the uses of fungi- The case 

 of the mould called erysiphe—Imperfect knowledge of it, 

 though so extensively prevalent— Botrytis-Botrytis of the 

 potato— Probably not the cause of the disease of 1845— Singu- 

 larly connected with it— Anomalies— Habits of growth of the 

 potato botrytis— Proof of the presence of its mycelium in the 

 plant and tubers— Progress of sound knowledge slow— Dutro- 

 chet's experiments on the groAvth of moulds— Remarks on 

 them — Remedy for moulds on peach-trees in houses and po- 

 tatoes in frames— The author's experiments in the spring of 

 1 846— Observations. 



In the first chapter of this Httle vohime, the 

 general habits of the fungi, as far as we are yet 

 acquainted with them, are described at large. 

 It will be interesting, however, to the agricul- 

 tural reader to hear something more of the 

 peculiarities of those which are found in the 

 fields and gardens of this country. Hitherto 

 but little accurate knowledge prevails respect- 

 ing them, especially amongst the cultivators of 

 the soil ; and even men of science and patient 

 botanical research have much to leari^ upon 



