272 TUNGI. 
we able to decide on the like question in reference to the coun- 
trics beyond Europe.” * 
In very cold countries the higher fungi are rare, whilst in 
tropical countries they are most common at elevations which 
secure a temperate climate. In Java, Junghuhn found them 
most prolific at an elevation of 3,000 to 5,000 feet; and in 
India, Dr. Hooker remarked that they were most abundant at 
an elevation of 7,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea level. 
For the higher fungi we must be indebted to the summary 
made by Fries, to which we have little to add. 
The genus Agaricus occupies the first place, and surpasses, in 
the number of species, all the other generic groups known. It 
appears, from our present knowledge, that the Agarici have their 
geographic centre in the temperate zone, and especially in the 
colder portion of that zone. It is a curious circumstance that 
all the extra-Kuropean species of this genus Ayaricus may be 
referred to various European subgenera. 
In tropical countries it appears that the Agarici occupy only a 
secondary position in relation to other genera of fungi, such as 
Polyporus, Lenzites, etc. North America, on the other hand, is 
richer in species of Agaricus than Europe; for whilst the ma- 
jority of typical forms are common to both continents, America 
further possesses many species peculiar to itself. In the tem- 
perate zone, so close is the analogy prevailing between the 
various countries in respect to the Agaricini, that from Sweden 
to Italy, and as well in England as North America, the same 
species are to be found. Of 500 dyaricini met with in St. 
Petersburg, there are only two or three which have not bech 
discovered in Sweden; and again, of fifty specics known in 
Greenland, there is not one that is not common in Sweden. The 
same remarks hold good in reference to the Agaricini of Siberia, 
Kamtschatka, the Ukraine, etc. The countries bordering upon 
the Mediterranean possess, however, several peculiar types; and 
Eastern and Western Europe present certain dissimilarities in 
their Agaric inhabitants. Several specics, for example, of Armil- 
* Fries, ‘On the Geograpk‘cal Distribution of Fungi,” in “‘ Ann, and Mag. 
Nat. Hist.” ser. iil. vol. ix. p. 279. 
