FUNGI. 339 
from their matrix, and that some of them are es- 
sentially meteoric, depending on matter conveyed 
to them by the surrounding air or moisture. A 
species of Phycomyces, which bears a strong re- 
semblance to an alga, from its green colour and 
shining aspect when dry, grows rapidly and in pro- 
digious quantities in soap and candle manufac- 
tories, covering walls that are saturated with oil 
or grease in immense flakes. In tallow casks it 
flourishes in the most wonderful degree, and ulti- 
mately exhausts the grease on which it grows to 
a great depth. It is supposed to be a transfor- 
mation of the common green mould. Some 
species, such as the truffle, are subterranean, vege- 
tating in the absence of all the external stimulants 
upon which other plants depend, being apparently 
attached to the roots of trees, often at a consider- 
able distance underground. Some species are: 
found clinging to the roof of coal mines, and hang- 
ing from it in fantastic fashion in masses, snowy 
white as a sheep’s fleece, but turning to a disagree- 
able brown paste as soon as handled. A peculiar 
fungus (Zasmidium cellare), \ike a bacchanalian 
gnome, is found on casks and bottles, and hanging 
down from the roof in close cellars. It grows in 
great abundance in the London docks. The dim 
vaults, with their vistas of casks, extending in the 
darkness farther than eye can reach, are festooned 
