new Plant, of the Order of Fungi. 425 
this plant; at length, however, removing the earth carefully 
to the depth of feven or eight inches, I met with it, and to 
my great pleafure and furprife, on raifing the plant,’ I ditfco- 
vered the volva, which was fo unlike the fugitive one of the 
agaric, that I was immediately convinced it muft be fomething 
new. 
An account of this was dire@tly fent to Mr. Dickson, of 
Covent-Garden, an able botanift, and diligent enquirer after 
the clafs Cryptogamia. Mr. Dickson, who had before {een it 
im the ftate in which it was found by Mr. Humpureys, but 
could make nothing ofit, though thoroughly convinced it was no 
agaric, immediately requefted that I would watch the fpot, and 
endeavour to deteét the plant in its earlieft appearance. J com- 
municated this to my neighbour Mr. Srone, a moft diligent and 
fkilful botanift, who firft reftored the Lycoperdon coliforme; and 
we determined to examine the fpot carefully together, from the 
month of Auguft downward. About the middle of Auguft 
we firft difcovered a plant juft arifen, which was fent to Mr. 
Dickson, and a full defcription of which is before given; but 
though we have daily vifited the fpot fince, we have never 
been able to find it again in fo young a ftate; for fo rapid ap- 
pears to be its growth, that we have found plants of two or 
three inches height above the ground, the {tems of which had 
loft part of their mucilage, where the day before none had been 
vifible. We have three or four times attempted to difcover the 
volva in its earlieft {tate, by removing the earth carefully near 
the old ftems of the preceding year; but this has been without 
fuccefs: and there is little hope of fucceeding in it, as the 
volva lies very deep in the ground, and the plant arifes at fuch 
various times. 
VoL. LXXIV. ro Re This 
