414 FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATION. 
has been beforehand with them; and like the 
famous rat, whose inventive powers were quick- 
ened by necessity, which drew up the liquid con- 
tained in a bottle by dipping its tail into it, the 
vegetable, equally sagacious, develops itself first 
on the cork, and having penetrated it with its 
spawn, sends down long root-like appendages into 
the liquor, exhausting it of its rich aroma, and 
rendering it a mere caput mortuum. Nor is the 
wine left unmolested, even when it has been 
drawn into the decanter; a meddling fungus still 
follows it, and renders it sometimes mothery, the 
cloudy filamentous dregs left at the bottom indi- 
cating its presence. In short, in some shape or 
other this fungoid vegetation perseveringly ac- 
companies the fruit of the vine in all its changes 
and transitions from the German hills to the 
British dining-room ; and like an ill-odoured ex- 
ciseman, levies a tax upon it for the benefit of its 
own constitution. 
A very familiar example of an Oidium oc- 
curs on decaying oranges, commencing at first in 
minute pulverulent spots, which speedily become 
confluent, and of a deep greenish-grey tinge. 
This genus of fungi is very destructive to fruits 
of all kinds. The lover of fruit may have often 
noticed thin concentric, cream-coloured, or fawn- 
coloured patches on the skin of apples, pears, 
