52 
precautions are necessary to prevent the access of air 
and the evaporation of the liquor, because, if either of 
these happen, the specimens will soon be spoiled.’ The 
Boleti are in general more difficult to preserve than'the 
Agarics, and such of either as abound with a milky | 
juice are apt to foul the liquor, which must then be 
changed. . Mosses and Lichens may be »preserved in 
great perfection by this method of pickling. But we 
must add, that a collection formed in this manner will 
be both bulky and expensive. 
Another method, still more simple, has sometimes 
been practised, namely, to dry them ip a stove’of clean 
Physiology. 
sand moderately \heated.|' Almost all the, coriaceous 
agarics ‘may in this‘manner be ‘preserved. with: ease} so 
as to exhibitnot only their form, but also-in.a great de- 
gree their colour. The sand must be fine, clean, and 
dry, and poured into the dish with care, observing to 
fill the spaces between. the gills gently, with the sand, 
without bruising them or altering their position. 
But a vast number of the fungi noticed above can- 
not be preserved by any of those methods, which we 
have detailed: Many. of them consist almost entirely 
of water, so as to be incapable: of drying without total 
destruction, while the characters of others depend so 
much upon the colour, and at the same time are of a 
substance so fugaceous, that no liquor can preserve 
their delicate tints, or their still frailer forms. Hence 
the-mycologist must employ his pen to describe, and 
his pencil to copy these productions, whose characters he 
investigates, otherwise his: conceptions of the* species 
will be beth obscure:and indeterminate. 
In addition we may mention, that. agarics may be 
transported to almost any distance -with little damage 
by the following method. Put them into an earthen 
jar upon a layer of moss a little pressed down; cover 
them with more moss, carefully; filling up the inter- 
stices ; and then go: on: stratifying them until the jar 
be quite full; pour in the, pickle above described: as 
long as the moss will continue to imbibe any, then stop 
the mouth of the jar securely. It may be useful to 
observe, that when several species are put into one jar, 
they may be labelled with slips of card paper written 
with a black lead pencil. - 
Inattending to the physiology -of this intricate class 
of vegetables, there is no circumstance in their history 
more surprising than the rapidity of their growth. 
The space which intervenes between their germination 
and maturity is seldom more than a few days, or at 
most a few weeks, and in many cases a few hours only 
are required. Withering relates, that a young plant 
of the Agaricus cylindricus put intowater, and covered 
with a glass bell, grew three inches and a quarter in 
twelve hours. Sowerby when describing the Phallus 
caninus, says, “ I have ‘often. placed. specimens by a 
window, over night, while in the egg form, -and they 
have been fully grown by the morning,”’ and. he adds, 
“they have never grown with me in the day time. The 
absence of light, indeed, to this tribe -of.plants, does 
not seem so prejudicial, as it does to the stameniferous 
vegetables. Some of them live under the ground, 
others in the recesses of caves and in dark cellars. 
In regard to situation, the fimgi present many re- 
markable differences. A few grow upon the ground, 
and seem to derive their nourishment from the soil. 
Others spring up on the various putrid substances pre- 
sented by nature or art. Rotten fruit, cheese, meat, 
dung, are all destined to support particular species of 
fungi, But these parasites are not confined to dead 
living vegetables. 
FUNGL 
plants and putrid matters, otherwise we might consider _ Fang 
them like the Silphides among: the insects, and style. 
them. nature’s scaffingers. But they likewise attack. 
They presume not to infest animal 
matter until the spark, of vitality has fled; but they 
prey upon the very juices of vegetables, seat themselves 
on the stalks, the leaves, and the flowers, and occasion 
their stinted growth and decay. Some are liar to 
one plant, while \others infest the foliage of several 
plants, provided in general they belong to the same 
natural family. They make their appearance in pas- 
tures and corn-fields, on way sides, in marshes, and. in 
woods, In.one, season, you may observe multitudes 
rising in a particular spot, where none will be found in 
the subsequent, season. So uncertain are, they in. their — 
growth, that it is not likely they will ever enter into 
the composition of ornamental gardening. We are 
told by Gleditsch, that morels are observed to grow in 
the woods of Germany in the greatest plenty, in those 
places where charcoal has been made. Hence fhe goad 
women who collect them to sell, receiving a hint how 
to. encourage ‘their growth, have been accustomed: to 
make fires in certain places of the, woods, with. heath, 
broom, and other materials, in order to obtain a more 
plentiful crop... This strange method of cultivatin 
morels being, however, sometimes attended with dreads 
ful consequences, large woods having been set. on fire 
and destroyed by it, the magistrate thought fit to inter 
pose his authority, and the practice is now interdicted. 
We may add, that the beautiful little moss, called the 
Dicranum purpureum makes its appearance in precisely 
similar situations. 
We cannot take leave. of this. part of the subject, 
without stating to our readers the following observa< 
tions, which were made by that eminent naturalist, the 
late George Montagu, Esq. on a Scaup duck, which 
came into his, possession,-and which died a few days 
after.—* The cause of death” (says he) ‘ appeared to be 
in the Jungs; and in the membrane that separates. them 
from the other viscera; this last was Lh thickened, 
and all the cavity within was covered with mucor, or 
blue mould. It is a most curious circumstance to find 
this vegetable production growing within a living ani- 
mal, and shews that where air is pervious, mould will 
be found to.obtain, if it meets with sufficient moisture; 
and a:place congenial to vegetation. Now the fact is, 
that the part on which this vegetable was growing was 
decayed, and had no longer within itself a living prin- 
ciple; the dead part therefore became the proper pabu- 
lum of the invisible seeds of the mucor transmitted by 
the air.in respiration ; and thus nature. carries on all her 
works immutably, under every possible variation of 
circumstance. . It would indeed be impossible for such 
to vegetate on a living bedy, being incompatible with 
vitality ; and we-may be assured “that decay must take 
place before this minute vegetable can make a lodge- 
ment to aid in the.great change of decomposition. Even - 
with inanimate bodies, the appearance of mould or any 
species of Fungi is a sure prennee of partial decay and 
decomposition.” -Ornith. Dict. sup. Duck Scaup. , 
But the most uncommon circumstance in the mode 
of growth: of the fangi remains to be mentioned, and is 
their disposition to grow in circles. Many of the Aga- 
xics, for example, are solitary, while others are uniform- 
ly gregarious. Those of the last kind frequently rise 
up in a somewhat regular manner, and = circles 
more or less complete. . These circles for a long time 
perplexed the naturalist, ever more anxious to employ _ 
singular and uncommon agents in aceounting for. the 
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