ix] FUNGI IN THE TROPICS 



which, living in the humus, swallow, together with inorganic par- 

 ticles, the seeds which may be mixed with them ; and, in their turn, 

 being devoured by birds, the undigested seeds may pass through the 

 latter's intestines and be evacuated intact in localities such as those 

 whence they originated. The mysterious dissemination of certain 

 fungi of hypogeous growth — of truffles, for example — may be 

 similarly explained, for their spores, like the above-mentioned seeds, 

 can pass from the intestines of earthworms to those of birds, and 

 thus be spread far and wide. 



Mycetes and fleshy fungi were also not uncommon in the vicinity 

 of my house, and I often came across Mytremyces, Hymenophallus , 

 Mutinus, Clathrus, etc., the joy of whose discovery only the 

 mycologist can appreciate fully. One day it was our common 

 edible mushroom (Boletus edulis) which gave me a happy surprise,, 

 taking me back to our Italian woods. And here, too, I met with 

 several other European forms of Boletus and Agaricus which had 

 been long familiar to me. 



It is a general belief that fungi are not abundant within the 

 tropics, but this belief must be greatly modified. One day in 

 'September I made a note of the species of fungi I could collect in 

 an hour in the immediate vicinity of my house, and the result was : 

 Myxogastri, three species ; Agaricus, fourteen species ; Polyporei, 

 ten species ; Auricularinei, six species ; Pezizece, three species ;. 

 Phacidiecs, three species ; Sphceriacei, ten species ; total, forty-nine 

 species. On another occasion (June 14) I found in the forest, in the 

 vicinity of the house of the Chinese, eleven species of Agaricus and 

 five or six of Boletus. Moreover, from my arrival in Borneo to 

 September, 1866, I find that I observed no less than ninety different 

 species of Agaricus. 



From my hermitage at " Vallombrosa " I often went down ta 

 the Chinese settlement near the river to renew my provisions, and 

 especially to procure rice, which I kept in large tin boxes. These 

 I also used for stowing away my collections in, when the plants were 

 perfectly dry. During one of these visits to the Chinese I had occa- 

 sion to note that several foreign plants had invaded the grounds 

 around the " kunsi " ; amongst them were two in great abundance 

 which were in no way tropical — Amaranthus mangostanus, L., and 

 the plantain, Plantago major, L., both eaten by the Chinese. 



Following the stream on which was the landing-place, and pene- 

 trating the forest, I came to a small and perfectly level valley extend- 

 ing for nearly a mile, where Nature showed herself in her wildest 

 aspect. In the thick layer of rich humus which the floods of years had 

 deposited there, the vegetation throve in an extraordinary manner, 

 and the trees had attained enormous dimensions. I was pleasantly 

 surprised at the large number of palms which I found here. In 

 the rank soil the spiny Zalacca abounded. Here, too, I collected 



113 1 



