CHAPTER XVIII 



Miishrooms, Toadstools, and Molds 



Every one is familiar with the peculiar umbrella-like 

 plants called toadstools and mushrooms, which may be found 

 abundantly during damp weather, especially in early autumn, 

 in fields and woods. They differ from our common plants 

 in that they have none of the 

 green coloring matter called 

 chlorophyl by means of which 

 the higher plants carry on 

 the processes of their life. 



These toadstools and mush- 

 rooms belong to the great 

 group of fungi — a group 

 which includes a large num- 

 ber of species of plants. The 

 fungi rank lower in the scale 

 of life than the trees and 

 herbs which we commonly 



have in mind when we speak of plants, but they serve 

 many important purposes in the economy of nature. 



If you will place a well-developed toadstool of the general 

 type of the specimen shown in the picture above in the 

 position in which it grew, upon a piece of white paper, and 

 leave it for a day or two, the paper will probably be covered 

 with a fine dark powder. A similar powder will be found 

 upon the thin plates hanging down from the upper part 

 of the toadstool. If some of this powder be placed under 



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