122 OF THE FUNGI. 



black spores, which in certain seasons propagate themselves 

 in countless myriads, always taking up their abode in the 

 ears. No less injurious is another microscopic Fungus, 

 generally known as 4 bunt ' (Tilletia caries), which grows 

 within the grain itself, filling it with its dark mass of 

 spores. On pressing the grain the spores become visible 

 to the eye as a sooty and foetid dust. 



Of the cases in which Fungi are noxious to animal life, 

 the commonest and most easily observed is that of the 

 Empusina muscse, Colin. , to which so many house-flies fall 

 victims. It is by no means a rare thing, especially during 

 the autumn, to find Hies with outstretched legs apparently 

 glued to the window-panes, and surrounded by a white 

 filmy cloud extending to a distance of one inch or two 

 inches on each side of the body. This filmy cloud is a 

 Fungus, which, generated within the body of the animal 

 during life, has now forced its way out between the rings 

 of the abdomen, and is spreading its filaments in every 

 direction. [Recent investigations have brought to light 

 the almost incredible fact, that this Empusina, when 

 immersed in water, alters its whole character and develops 

 into a plant, which was long looked upon as a Confervoid 

 Alga (Achlya prolifera, -Nees), (Plate xxiii.) ; a plant only 

 too well known to keepers of gold fish, whose sides it clothes 

 with numberless tufts of long colourless filaments, gradually 

 wasting their powers and destroying their vitality. Nor 

 does the wonder cease here : there is reason to believe, 

 though the fact is not yet well established, that Achlya 

 is but another form of Botrytis bassiana, the ' Muscardine,' 

 to which I have already alluded as consuming the intestines 

 of silkworms. — Ed.] 



All the larger Fungi must be thoroughly dried before they 

 can be put away with safety in the herbarium. With regard 

 to the species which flourish on such compact material as 

 branches, palings, &c, the simplest plan is to cut off so 

 much of the wood as is convenient, and leave the preparation 

 in the open air until the moisture has completely evaporated. 



