298 



NATURE 



[Feb. 15, 1872 



D' 



ON THE COLOURING-MATTERS FOUND 

 IN FUNGI 

 URING the last autumn I studied very carefully 

 the colouring-matters occurring in such fungi as I 

 was able to find in my own district. For the correct 

 specific determination of many of them I am much in- 

 bebted to Mr. M. C. Cooke. Though the number ex- 

 amined was small, compared with the total number of 

 British species, it was sufficient to lead to some interesting 

 conclusions, and at the same time to point out the ne- 

 cessity of the examination of many more, which so far 

 have not fallen under my notice. It therefore appears to 

 me better to postpone the description of the individual 

 colouring-matters until I can include a greater number, 

 and compare them as a whole with those found in alg^e, 

 Vj lichens, and other natural orders ; but at the same time it 

 may be well to give a short general account of some of 

 the conclusions to which I have been led by the facts 

 already observed. 



So far 1 have been able to determine, by means of their 

 optical and other properties, the existence of at least thirty 

 distinct colouring-matters, and I feel persuaded that fur- 

 ther examination will greatly extend the list. The majority 

 of fungi contain at least two, and many contain several, 

 different coloured substances, which can be separated, or 

 perfectly well distinguished by other means. Closely 

 allied species sometimes contain two or more in common, 

 but very often one or more differ ; whilst, at the same time, 

 species belonging to somewhat widelyl separated genera 

 are occasionally coloured by identical substances — for ex- 

 ample, Stoxiim liirsntum and/'tT/ri; aurantia. Notwith- 

 standing this, on the whole, there does appear to be a very 

 decided connection between the general organisation of 

 the plant and the particular kind of colouring-matter 

 developed in it. There is, however, a considerable varia- 

 ation, even in different individuals of the same species — 

 one developes much of one substance, and another of 

 another— and thus we can easily understand why we often 

 find theni of very different colours, with every inter- 

 mediate tint. The connection between general organisa- 

 tion and the coloured products is still more decidedly 

 proved by comparing those met with in fungi with those 

 four.d in other natural orders. As already mentioned, I 

 have been able to distinguish at least thirty different 

 kinds in fungi. Of these fully twenty have such well- 

 marked optical characters that they could be recognised 

 without difficulty in other plants. Someof therest could not 

 be easily distinguished when mixed with any of the modifi- 

 cations of tannic acid, and therefore nothing very positive 

 can be said about their presence or absence in certain 

 plants. Confining our attention to those about which 

 there is no such doubt, I may say that only one is known 

 to occur in any plant not a fungus. This is the fine 

 orange colour, soluble in bi-sulphide of carbon, found in 

 Calocera viscosa, which agrees perfectly with the more 

 orange-coloured xanthophyll of some faded leaves, and of 

 the exterior layer of the root of the carrot. The rest 

 have hitherto been found only in various fungi. Neglect- 

 ing individual differences, and taking into consideration 

 only such general characters as are most useful in dividing 

 colouring-matters into natural groups, there is also a re- 

 markable difference between those of fungi and of some 



other natural orders. In several previous papers I have 

 described how colouring-matters may be divided into 

 three groups by the manner in which they are acted upon 

 by sulphite of soda. In group A the detached absorption 

 is removed, even when the solution contains free ammonia ; 

 in group B it is removed only when the solution contains 

 excess of a weak acid, whilst group C is not changed in 

 either case. .So far, with only two exceptions, all the colour- 

 ing-matters found in fungi belong to group C, even when 

 they are blue or red, whereas with only two exceptions all 

 the blue and red colouring-matters in the petals and leaves 

 of flowering plants belong to groups A and B. A larger 

 proportion of those of group C occurs in fruits, and a still 

 larger in coloured woods, and thus the colouring-matters 

 of fungi are much more closely related to those in woods 

 than to those in flowers or leaves. As far as my observa- 

 tions extend, there is little or no specific agreement be- 

 tween the substances found in fungi and those in algee and 

 lichens. These latter orders are, however, closely related 

 in this respect, for the greater part of the specific 

 colouring-matters found in alga: occur in lichens, along 

 with others similar to, but perhaps not identical with, 

 those met with in fungi. Substances analogous to tannic 

 acid are not of common occurrence, but are found in a 

 few, as for example in Agariais siiblateritius, passing by 

 oxidisation into a very insoluble brown colouring-matter, 

 as in the case of faded leaves in autumn. 



I am most willing to admit that much still remains to 

 be learned ; but, at the same time, these various facts 

 appear to prove that there is some definite re^ tion 

 between the organisation of plants and the chemical and 

 optical characters of the compounds formed during their 

 growth. If further research should establish this con- 

 clusion, one may perhaps indulge the hope that it will 

 throw much light on certain questions in vegetable physio- 

 logy. H. C. SORBY. 



SCHMIDT'S COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 



Handbuch der Vergleichenden Anatomic. Eduard Oscar 



Schmidt. Sechste Auflage. (Jena, 1872.) Pp. 402. 



IT is now more than twenty years since the first edition 

 of this manual appeared. The plan is that of a com- 

 panion to the author's lectures as Professor in the 

 University of Gratz. It begins with a somewhat lengthy 

 introduction on the general principles of Morphology and 

 Physiology. In discussing the distinction between ani- 

 mals and plants, the author appositely quotes Buffon's 

 dictum, " II n'y a aucune difference absolument essentielle 

 et gdn^rale entre les animaux et les vdgdtaux." He also 

 does full justice to the pre-eminent importanci* of Cuvier's 

 labours in paleontology as well as in comparative 

 anatomy and classification ; but it is strange to find the 

 name of Hunter conspicuous by its absence, even in a 

 brief sketch of scientific biology. The lines which the 

 author has chosen for the motto of his book, 



Alle Gestalten sind ahnlich, und keine gleichet der andern. 

 Und so deutet der Chor auf ein geheimes Gesetz, 

 have, he believes, now received their solution. For Prof. 

 Oscar Schmidt is a convert to the Darwinian creed. 

 He says, " I have not freed myself from my old geological 

 orthodoxy without much difficulty ; and I am therefore 



