46 FIELD AND FOREST. 



deposited and there seemed no possible way for the spores to enter the 

 cellar save through an open back window. 



The first named specimens of Ag. vermis were taken up carefully (as 

 the mycelium of all fnngi is extremely delicate,) with a considerable 

 portion of earth attached. Some were more advanced than others, 

 but in one night they grew and expanded into full grown specimens. 

 Upon several occasions, and under similar circumstances, we have 

 known fungi to grow after removal from the earth even while they lay 

 beside us. The stump of an old tree will become the habitat of several 

 species of fungi in one season, at other times in alternate seasons. 

 Perhaps the stronger crowd out the weaker ; or the mycelium, under 

 changes unknown to us, may send forth new varieties sometimes in 

 the same series ; or the spores of several distinct species may seek the 

 same habitat and appear in successive crops. 



We are told that in England the Ag. orcella grows alone, gregarious, 

 or in rings ; but when it grows in rings it always succeeds a crop of 

 the champignion. 



Ehrenberg asserted that several spores, after forming a common felt, 

 entered into the composition of the same fruit. All this is a mystery 

 which lies concealed from us and we can only name it the caprice of 

 fungi. In nature there seems to be a secret laboratory where oppo- 

 site laws meet and unite harmoniously. There are pauses, as if of sleep 

 which are followed in their own full time by normal wakefulness 

 leaving the past a mystery, the present a revelation. The death and 

 decomposition of one plant frequently forms a nucleus out of which 

 an entire new set of individuals arise. Seeds often remain in a po- 

 tential state of activity and nature not unfrequently avails herself of 

 this method to distribute a Flora of striking contrasts in successive 

 seasons. 



" See life dissolving vegetate again : 

 All served, all serving: nothing stands alone; 

 The chain holds on, and where it ends unknown." 



Amongst some of the microscopic forms of fungi the Uredines and 

 others of the Coniomycetes the phenomenon of dimorphism has been 

 proved a fact beyond doubt. According to Tulasne a Puccinia may 

 contain three kinds of reproductive bodies, which constitute three 

 different plants, a Uromyces, a Puccinia and a Trichobasis. He also 



