398 FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



hung up inside the chimney of our sitting-room to 

 dry, and, on passing through the apartment in the 

 dark, I observed the fungus giving out a most 

 remarkable light, similar to that described above. 

 No light is so white as this, at least none that I 

 have ever seen. The luminous property continued, 

 though gradually diminishing, for four or five nights, 

 when it ceased on the plant becoming dry. We 

 called some of the natives and showed them this 

 fungus when emitting light; the room was dark, 

 for the fire was very low and the candles extin- 

 guished, and the poor creatures cried out ' Chinga,' 

 their name for a spirit, and seemed afraid of it." 



The agaric of the olive-tree {Agaricus olearius) 

 is found in the south of Europe, and has been 

 subjected to an exhaustive examination. 1 It is of 

 itself very yellow, reflects a strong brilliant light, 

 and remains endowed with this remarkable faculty 

 whilst it grows, or at least while it appears to pre- 

 serve an active life, and remains fresh. Tulasne was 

 of opinion that it was really phosphorescent of itself, 

 and not indebted to any foreign production for the 

 light it emits. It is unnecessary to multiply examples, 

 in which the phenomena are uniform in their cha- 

 racter. There is not the slightest ground for sup- 

 posing that any hallucination, or optical illusion, 



1 Tulasne, "Annales des Sci. Nat." (1848), ix., p. 340. 



