INFLUENCES AND EFFECTS. 917 
a wood in September or October than in January or May. 
Dreadful effects are said to be produced by a species of black 
rust which attacks the large South of Europe reed, Arundo dona. 
This is in all probability the same species with that which 
attacks Arundo phragmitis in this country, the spores of which 
produce violent headaches and other disorders amongst the 
labourers who cut the reeds for thatching. M. Michel states 
that the spores from the parasite on Arundo donas, either inhaled 
or injected, produce violent papular eruption on the face, 
attended with great swelling, and a variety of alarming symp- 
toms which it is unnecessary to particularize, in various parts of 
the body.* Perhaps if Sareina should ultimately prove to be a 
fungus, it may be added to the list of those which aggravate, if 
they are not the primary cause of, disease in the human subject. 
II. What influences can be attributed to fungi upon animals 
other than man? Clearly instinct preserves animals from many 
dangers. It may be presumed that under ordinary circum- 
stances there is not much fear of a cow or a sheep poisoning 
itself in a pasture or a wood. But under extraordinary 
circumstances it is not only possible, but very probable, that 
injuries may occur. For instance, it is well known that not 
only rye and wheat, but also many of the grasses, are liable to 
infection from a peculiar form of fungus called “ergot.” In 
certain scasons this ergot is much more common than others, 
and the belief is strong in those who ought to know something 
of the subject from experience, viz., farmers and graziers, that in 
such seasons it is not uncommon for cattle to slip their young 
through fecding on ergotized grass. ‘hen, again, it is fairly 
open to inquiry whether, in years when “red rust” and 
“mildew ’’ are more than usually plentiful on grasses, these 
may not be to a certain extent injurious. Without attempting 
to associate the cattle plague in any way with fungi on 
grass, it is nevertheless a most remarkable coincidence that 
the year in which the cattle disease was most prevalent in 
this country was one in which there was—at least in some 
districts—more “red rust’? on grasses than we ever remem- 
¥* “ Gardener’s Chronicle,” March 26, 1864. 
