248 



THE HAZEL. 



make the best gunpowder. The charcoal crayons used 

 by artists for drawing outlines are also prepared from 

 Hazel-wood. 



One of the most beautiful of the British fungi [Pezi-a 

 coccinea) grows on decaying branches of the Hazel and 

 Bramble, and may be found lying on the ground in damp 

 places from December to April. In their early stage they 

 are whitish, club-shaped columns : but soon the summit 

 opens and exposes an intensely-bright crimson surface, 



whicli expands at first into a deep cup, and finally into a 

 spreading bowl, as large over as a crown-piece. When in 

 this state, if they are touched while the sun is shining 

 warmly, they will sometimes send up a fine jet of smoke; 

 at least so it is in appearance : but so rapid is this process, 

 that before one has had time to discover from what part 

 of the surface the puff proceeded, it has vanished, and 

 not a pore, as large even as the point of a needle, can be 

 detected. The particles of which this apparent smoke is 

 composed are, undoubtedly, seeds ; but how infinitely 



