K.— BOTANY 195 



do not clearly distinguish between the putting of poison into the dish 

 and the presence therein of a poisonous fungus whether by accident or 

 design. 



With the widespread knowledge of poisonous fungi on the Continent 

 it is surprising that little criminal use appears to have been made of 

 them, especially as the writers of modern detective stories have shown 

 their possibilities. However, a case which aroused great interest in 

 France towards the end of the War was that of an insurance agent, Girard, 

 who was executed in 191 8 for making use of his mycological knowledge 

 and his professional opportunities as an insurance agent to get rid of a 

 number of clients, the second batch by means of Amanita phalloides. 

 But this was simple compared with a habit of the Watusi of the Victoria 

 Nyanza region. G. Mattlet describes how, when they wish to wreak 

 their vengeance on anyone, they exhume the corpse of a person who has 

 recently died of pneumomycosis. They remove the lungs, dry and 

 powder them, and administer this in banana beer. The fungus survives 

 the treatment. 



As would be expected man has contrived to make use of the larger 

 fungi in many and various ways, a few only of which need be mentioned. 

 From the earliest times the sterile bases of puff-balls have served for 

 staunching wounds ; 8 Lycoperdon Bovista is the Bovista officinalis of 

 older works and ' summopere laudata ' as Vittadini says. Within recent 

 years it has been proposed to use it as a styptic in veterinary work. 



The soft flesh of certain species of Fomes, particularly Fomes fomentarius, 

 has been employed for many purposes. As amadou it was formerly used 

 as tinder after beating and treatment with saltpetre ; it is still used by 

 dentists for absorption and compressing, by fly-fishers to dry fly, and in 

 some types of experimental pneumatic fire-syringes. Caps, aprons, picture- 

 frames and such-like made from it are still common in Thuringia and 

 the afforested parts of Germany. It was with this ' Touch-wood . . . 

 commonly call'd by the name of Spunk ; but that we meet with to be sold 

 in Shops, is brought from beyond Seas ' that Robert Hooke made the first 

 known observations on the microscopical structure of fungi in his Micro- 

 graphia (1665). The account occurs in Observation XXII — Of common 

 Sponges, and several other Spongie fibrous bodies — and so is likely to 

 escape notice : ' The substance of it feels, and looks to the naked eye, and 

 may be stretch'd any way, exactly like a very fine piece of Chamois Leather, 

 or wash'd Leather, but it is of somewhat a browner hew, and nothing neer 

 so strong : but examining it with my Microscope, I found it of somewhat 

 another make than any kind of Leather ... it consists of an infinite number 

 of small filaments. . . .' 



The luminosity of fungi is one of those strange natural phenomena 

 which always arouses interest, and there are many accounts of it. 

 Miss L. E. Cheesman informs me that on her recent visit to the New 

 Hebrides she was bushed one night and, passing near a village, said she 

 must have a light. Boys collected a luminous fungus with a glutinous 

 cap which they stuck all over themselves. She could then see a column 



8 Cf. Romany couplet: ' Quanda mandi chivs moilee Ke vindi morripude,' 

 When a man cuts his fingers, he uses the puff-ball. 



