THE STORY OF THE FUNGI 129 



is a common experience to find pieces of decay- 

 ing branches which give out a greenish hght 

 quite bright at times. This state of affairs 

 will only continue so long as the wood is 

 damp, for it is only when the conditions are 

 moist enough for their growth that the hyphce 

 are luminous. 



Any classification of fungi by the mere 

 appearance of the mycelium would be almost 

 impossible, for in hundreds of instances it is 

 of similar appearance. In a general waj/, then, 

 identification is only possible by noticing the 

 difference in the spore-producing process. 



It has been found practicable to divide all 

 the fungi with which the ordinary person is 

 likely to become acquainted into two orders. 

 These have been called the Basidiomycetes and 

 the Ascomycefes. In the first instance it is 

 noted that the spores are borne on the end of 

 club-shaped bodies, whilst in the latter case 

 they are produced in a cell. Of course, it is 

 only possible to observe such matters as these 

 with the aid of considerable magnification. In 

 order to classify the fungi more completely, the 

 Basidiomycetes have been subdivided into two 

 groups, which have been called Gastei'oviycetes 



