34 



CHAPTER IV. 



GEOGEAPIIICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FUNGI. 



The reproductive bodies of Fungi arc so small and easily 

 wafted by the air,'^ and, moreover^ are in certain cases ca- 

 pable of enduring such high and low temperatures without 

 losing their power of germination, that there are far greater 

 facilities for their distribution than for that of phamogams. 

 Wherever, therefore, similar conditions of soil, moisture, and 

 other external accidents exist, or, at least, such conditions as 

 are suited to the development of particular species, we arc pre- 

 pared to meet Mith the same or similar Fungi. Accordingly, 

 if Ave take almost any extratropieal island or district, we find 

 a large portion of species identical with those of Europe, 

 besides a certain number of closely- allied species ; and in pro- 

 portion as such places present at times conditions approxi- 

 mating those of tropical or su])tropical countries, we have a 

 varying proportion of truly tropical or subtropical species. If, 

 for instance, we take Tasmania, of which only a portion of 

 the Fungi are at present known, we find, out of 275 species, 



* Spores of Fungi, for instance, have been detected apparently uninjured in 

 the dust of the trade winds, in flakes of snow collected from the air, on tlic 

 mucous surfaces of the internal organs of animals, in the dejections of cholera, 

 etc. 



