FUNGI. 303 
rose nearly a foot from the ground, measured con- 
siderably more than two and a half feet across, 
and weighed from eighteen to twenty pounds. 
Some time ago a specimen of the Polyporus an- 
nosus, a species peculiar to pine-trees, was found 
in the Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, 
growing on a portion of the pitch-pine joists of the 
cellars. The entire growth was so large that when 
packed in a box for transit, it was as much as 
two strong men could carry. The largest piece 
was no less than seven inches thick and six feet 
three inches in circumference, and weighed thirty- 
two pounds; while the piece of joist upon which 
it grew weighed only six and a half pounds. 
Specimens of agaric and puff-ball may frequently 
be met with, measuring a foot and a half in dia- 
meter, and weighing many pounds. 
Although the structure of fungi is generally of 
a loosely cellular nature, yet they exhibit an as- 
tonishing variety of consistence. Each genus, and 
in many instances each species, displays a differ- 
ent texture. They range in substance from a 
watery pulp or a gelatinous scum to a fleshy, 
corky, leathery, or even ligneous mass. Some are 
mere thin fibres of airy cob-web, spreading like a 
flocculent veil over decaying matter ; while others 
resemble large irregular masses of hard tough 
wood. Their qualities are also exceedingly 
