_~ Funeral, 
——— 
Mourning, 
Fungi. 
Oa | 
Character of 
the Fungi. 
FUN ‘1 ASV “FUN 
Knisteneaux of North America destroy all. that.-be- 
long to him; and the Chipewyans never employ what, 
has served for his use. et 
Mourning is a..ceremonial, also much diversified. by 
the custom of nations. In general, it is more rigid ‘on 
the widow of the deceased, than on the rest-of his re- 
latives.. The Theodosian code adjudged a woman to be 
infamous who married ten months or a year from the 
decease of her husband. In. Britain, it-is rather under- 
stood that second nuptials should not take place within 
a year; and the period of mourning extends to two. 
The. women of some North American tribes must live 
three or even four years in'astate of widowhood: and:in 
eastern countries, the eldest son cannot marry during the 
time of mourning for a parent, which is two years; and 
he should:all the while sleep along with the rest on mat- 
tresses, not .in-beds, and subsist on» very: simple fare. 
Wearing particular colours, as white, black, or purple,. 
is emblematic of mourning in different countries ; 
shaving the hair close is a: particular mode of testifying 
grief for ene deceased. But sometimes only half the 
ead is shaved; or the hair, if generally worn long, ‘is 
simply. shortened, A more decided mark of sorrow 
EUNG@ Tee 
“Tue most conspicuous of the ts, to which we) 
propose to direct the attention of the reader in» this 
article, are, in. general termed. by, the English Mush- 
rooms or Toad-siools, and by the Seots Paddock-stools. 
By the Greeks they. were called Mux#ls; and they 
are now known to: botanists under the general ap- 
pellation of Fungi, a term sufficiently expressive, of 
their soft, spongy, \coriaceous texture. They consti- 
tute the first link of the great chain of vegetable life, 
and. serve to connect organised bodies with inorga- 
nic matter. In ceopiichy of form and. structure, they 
differ widely from the other vegetable tribes, as they 
present neither leaves nor flowers. Destined to spring 
up inthe midst of corruption, and to draw their nourish- 
ment from) putrefaction, the fastidious observer turns 
from them with disgust ; and the true naturalist, while 
aware of their importance in the scale of being, finding 
them too perishable in their nature to be easily preserved 
in his cabinet, too capricious in their growth to be culti- 
vated in-his garden; and too sportive in their formis to 
be surontally delineated, with his pencil, leaves them 
with t to rot on the dunghill and to wither in the 
wood. Haack they are fancifully characterised by Lin- 
neeus as Nomades, autumnales, barbari, denudati, putri« 
di, voraces. Hi flora) reducente plantas hyematum, le- 
gunt, rélictas earum quisquilias sordesque. 
The botanists of t age, such as Theophrastus, 
Dioscorides, and Pliny, attributed the origm of mush- 
rooms to a certain viscosity arising from putrefying ve- 
ee This notion a oe prevailed, until 
immortal Harvey unfolded his second grand disco-< 
very; omne animal ex ovo. After this period, the ger~ 
mination of plants was investigated with greater care, 
and ees ie botanists applied themselves to the eluci- 
dation, of the obscure physiology of the fungi. Clusius 
had long before maintained that mushrooms spring from 
seeds ; but it was reserved for Boccone, Mentzel, and 
Tournefort, to establish the truth of the assertion: 
- easily be seen by the naked:eye, while others can with 
consists in severe lacerations of the persons of the sut- 
vivors, their faces are disfigured, they slash their limbs, 
with knives, or sharp-pointed bones ; and some, to shew 
a more indelible ae, “4 paren ath iy 
deprived. of a joint of one of t ir fingers for every re< 
lation whom lose. See Herodotus, lib. iv. Strabo, 
lib. xv. Dionysius Halicarnassus, lib. xi. Nicolaus Dax 
mascenus Apud Excerpta Valerii, . Nicolaus De 
luctu Grecorum. Kivchmannus De funeribus Romano- 
rum. Gutherius De jure Manium. Poreacchi Dei Fu« 
nerali dell Antichi: orensc Pa, seu martin 
Religionis origo) et Incrementum. linus: urUs, 
antiquitatum “sacrarum. Roman's History of 
Florida. (. Ms Pie ee 12 
FUNFKIRCEN, or Five Cuurcues, is:the name of 
a town. in Hungary, situated in a fertile country be« 
tween ‘the Drave and the Danube. | It bearer ed 
celebrated for its university, which was fou’ ob 
Louis I. and which was at one time attended by about 
2000 students.» It was’ ruined, however, by the eap~ 
ture of; the splace by thei Turks. » Population about 
12,000. «East Long: 18° 9’; North Lat.:460 61. (w) 
a; ee OE anit Esthet NE + oe 
‘IT ‘ 
mw 
These eminent botanists wete soon followed inthe:same 
trackby Battarra; Micheli, Dillenius,Gleditsch, Linneus, 
and Hedwig ; and more recently»by Bulliard:and Per- 
soon. «It cccnlatedhinge tabled? at tol ma woes 8 are as 
regularly. »organised: v ) as) the!y 
eerie A of fibres, -vessels, wad ‘Toots 5 
that have peculiar organs appropriated for the 
duction ere, Nm sien aaeed 1 thse se 0 
regeneration can: . “In short;they spri 9 
flourish, and:decay, like! other sorganisedy tin ion 
having transmitted:the principles of that ‘vitality which 
they possess, toa new .race;: exactly: similar: toothem= 
selves, TOTIKY : 
. In order to obtain the: seeds“ of mushrooms; “it isin Seeds) 
general only. necessary to: place themin:a fresh state : 
on a-plateof glass, the surface of which will soon'be'co2 
piously covered with them: These seedsdiffer widely, like 
other vegetables, as to size, shape, and colour, and still 
more'as to situation, insertion, and number. Some cati 
difficulty be detected by the highest magnifier’, * Thesé 
seeds are many of) them so” light as’ to’ be’ dis 
through the air, fron whence they are preci ( 
the ground and upon:plants by rain and ‘snow. ' T 
seem in fact to be everywhere. | They are the constarit 
attendants‘on’ decaying vegetable and animal matter). 
Is an apple rotting in a'damp place, it is speedily ¢o- 
vered with a mucor, sending forth its slender divergi 
stems, and forming a glory round it? Is even® 
dead hoof'of a horsevexposed for any time to the wea- 
ther; it-also wilk-become:covered. with a } s peculiar 
to itself? ‘These! plants cover the damp walls of cellars 
and caves, and seem formed to flourish in those ‘places 
which are unfit for the support of the more perfect’ ve+ 
getables. : If we take these circumstances in ‘connection 
with the infinite multitude of animalcule, which seem 
equally profusely distributed, we will be irresistibly led 
to the conclusion, that the earth itself is a mere res 
