EHYSIPHE. 143 



putrescent effluvia of dead substances, and in- 

 corporate it into their own systems. Hereby 

 escapointo the atmosphere is prevented, and the 

 consequent spread of numerous diseases. Nor 

 ought the medicinal properties of fungi to go 

 much longer without being further tried. Pro- 

 bably science will hereafter make them available 

 for purposes of Avhich, in its present condition, 

 the practitioner has little or no conception. 



So little is accurately known of the habits of 

 minute fungi, even by the most curious inves- 

 tigators, that even the mode of growth of 

 erysiphe, to which attention has been drawn 

 by certain observations, cannot be said to be 

 clearly known. As seen in certain vegetables, 

 the curious fungi bearing this name, spring 

 from a floccose web, and consist of little glo- 

 bules, which change colour as they grow older, 

 generally ending in black. This web is filled 

 with sacs containing sporules. The sacs put 

 out curious fibres, which lift them up from the 

 surface of whatever leaf they may grow on, 

 and whose juices they imbibe as the source of 

 their vitality. Before this appearance takes 

 place there are to be seen threads, white or 

 greyish, and consisting of bead-like joints, the 

 uppermost of which, it has been asserted, fall 



