FUNGI. 355 
among the farmers or ryots—disorganizing in many 
cases the structure of the whole foot, and occasion- 
ing much suffering ;—all these diseases are either 
primarily produced or invariably accompanied by 
some form or other of fungoid growth. The vege- 
table vesicles or aggregations of small rounded 
cells found in all of them, have been carefully re- 
moved and placed in saccharine matter, on fruits 
or in syrup, in favourable circumstances, supplied 
with the requisite conditions of warmth and mois- 
ture, and attentively watched, when, in the course 
of a few days, they were all found to develop 
themselves into some species or other of the com- 
mon mould of our cupboards. These experiments 
render it extremely probable that there is no 
fungus found infesting any part of the human body, 
or any part of the economy of other animals, how- 
ever different or abnormal the appearance it may 
present, which is not referrible to the ubiquitous 
mould family. 
The plants known under the common name of 
mould are not only universally distributed where 
fungi are at all capable of growing, but are also 
remarkably indifferent as to their selection of 
habitats, scarce anything escaping them, assuming 
different appearances in different situations, some 
of which are exceedingly puzzling to the botanist. 
Usually they are found on pots of jam, on cheese, 
