108 FUNGI. 



they are as bright as in the air, but the fungi which I left 

 immersed until the next evening lost all their phosphorescence, 

 and communicated to the water an already sensible yellow tint ; 

 alcohol put upon the phosphorescent gills did not at once com- 

 pletely obliterate the light, but visibly enfeebled it. As to the 

 spores, which are white, I have found many times very dense 

 coats of them thrown down on porcelain plates, but I have 

 never seen them phosphorescent. 



" As to the observation made by Delile that the Agaric of the 

 olive does not shine during the day when placed in total dark- 

 ness, I think that it could not have been repeated. From what 

 I have said of the phosphorescence of A. olcarius, one naturally 

 concludes that there does not exist any necessary relation 

 between this phenomenon and the fructification of the fungus ; 

 the luminous brightness of the hymenium shows, says Delile, 

 'the greater activity of the reproductive organs,' but it is 

 not in consequence of its reproductive functions, which may 

 be judged only as an accessory phenomenon, the cause of which 

 is independent of, and more general than these functions, since 

 all the parts of the fungus, its entire substance, throws forth 

 at one time, or at successive times, light. From these experi- 

 ments Tulasne infers that the same agents, oxygen, water, and 

 warmth, are perfectly necessary to the production of phospho- 

 rescence as much in living organized beings as in those which 

 have ceased to live. In either case, the luminous phenomena 

 accompany a chemical reaction which consists principally in 

 a combination of the organized matter with the oxygen of the 

 air; that is to say, in its combustion, and in the discharge 

 of carbonic acid which thus shows itself." 



We have quoted at considerable length from these observa- 

 tions of Tulasne on the Agaric of the olive, as they serve very 

 much to illustrate similar manifestations in other species, which 

 doubtless resemble each other in their main features. 



Mr. Gardner has graphically described his first acquaintance 

 in Brazil with the phosphorescent species which now bears his 

 name. It was encountered on a dark night of December, while 

 passing through the streets of Villa de Natividate. Some boys 



