FUNGI. 359 
or flocculent threads running through them. 
Every one is familiar with the tough mass that is 
so often brought up on the point of the pen from 
the ink-holder. This flocculent matter is the un- 
developed mycelium of the green or blue mould 
While growing in decomposing liquids, it loses all 
resemblance to the same plant when growing on 
decaying fruits and dead organic matter exposed 
to the air, and becomes a soft, slimy, and some- 
what gelatinous body, such as is often found in the 
bottoms of empty wine-bottles. This slimy mass 
is no other than the famous vinegar plant, which 
a few years ago aroused the attention of domestic 
circles and scientific bodies, and was extensively 
diffused as a useful article in the manufacture of 
vinegar in private families. The report, circulated 
at the time, of its being an importation from India 
or South America, has thus been found destitute 
of foundation ; for whatever may have been the 
history of the first or individual specimens, and 
though the growth of the plant might go on more 
rapidly in a warm than in a temperate climate, yet 
it is evidently a genuine native production, capable 
of being originated and multiplied indefinitely in 
this country. This extraordinary substance, fami- 
liar, no doubt, to many of my readers, may be de- 
scribed as a tough, gelatinous mass of a pale 
brownish colour, bearing a close resemblance to a 
