MTTCORINI. Ill 



MUCORINI. In this family we have the common 

 mould of paste, Mucor mucedo (PL VIII. fig. 36). 

 It is easily recognized by the little spherical capsules 

 terminating the long and tufted fruit -stalks (pedicels), 

 which are perceptible to the naked eye. Each cap- 

 sule consists of a simple enlarged cell, the cavity of 

 which is separated from that of the stalk by a septum. 

 They are white at first, subsequently becoming brown 

 and black. The minute crowded spores (fig. 36 s) 

 are at first oblong, afterwards spherical. In the centre 

 of the capsule is a club-shaped body, or columefla 

 (fig. 36 a), formed by the elevation and inflation of the 

 septum. 



A beautiful little Fungus of this family, apparently 

 referable to the genus Acrostalag'mus (PL VIII. fig. 

 37), is sometimes found upon soft decaying stems. 

 The main filaments are soft, smooth, and not septate. 

 The pedicels are very brittle, whorled, dichotomously 

 branched, scabrous, and terminated each by a little 

 scabrous spherical vesicle (fig. 37 a), containing two 

 or three oblong spores. 



ANTENNARIEI. In this family is Racodium (or An- 

 tenndria) celldre, the Wine-cellar Fungus, forming the 

 well-known cobweb-like masses hanging from the 

 walls, &c. The little black capsules are seated upon 

 slender septate filaments, and contain numerous round 

 spores. 



In examining leaves with the view of procuring 

 Fungi, the reader will most likely meet with the two 

 kinds of bodies represented in Plate VIII. figs. 38 

 & 39. These are not Fungi, but galls. They arise 

 from an abnormal growth of the leaf-structures, pro- 

 duced by the deposition of the eggs of insects (Cyni- 

 piddt). The well-known oak-apple, and the red hairy- 

 looking body found upon hedge-roses, are both galls 

 produced in the same way. 



Examination and Preservation. The examination 

 of the Fungi scarcely requires any special remarks. 



L2 



