180 MICEOSCOPIC FUNGI. 



voiir to go over a large tract of ground. "We have 

 spent a whole day in a little chalkpit^ whicli had 

 fallen into disuse^ and grown wild. Fifty yards 

 into a wood is as much as we attempt^ when alone ; 

 and a spot six yards square has afforded us occu- 

 pation for hours. It is better to examine a small 

 space thoroughly than to scamper on^ mile after 

 mile^ and find nothing. 



When ? is as much to be noted as where ! All 

 the year round we shall be sure of finding some- 

 thing of interest. As soon as the last patch of 

 winter^s snow has melted from the ground^ and 

 green leaves begin to unfold themselves^ the search 

 may begin. Cluster-cups [2Ecidium) will be the 

 earliest forms encountered. On the leaves of 

 Lapsana communis, and the pilewort^ these will 

 be found before the majority of plants have burst 

 their buds. Henceforth^ other forms will gradually 

 appear^ until May or June. One or two species of 

 Puccinia will be seen in April or May^ but from 

 that period until autumn^ species of Trichohasis 

 will be common. In June and July the smuts 

 belonging to the genus JJstilacjo are most plen- 

 tiful^ and from August to October Puccinia and its 

 allied genera will have the ascendant ; so that from 

 March to October there is continually succeeding 

 each other some species of parasitic fungus belong- 

 ing to the Uredines. From October to March need 

 be no more a season of repose from the search of 

 these minute plants than from March to October. 



