326 



Marvels of the Universe 



o\-er all the rest, challenges the great leader and 

 ousts him from his proud position. Thence- 

 forth the ejected bull roams the seas alone, 

 never to join another school, but becoming 

 more morose, vicious and difficult to attack. 

 It is a pathetic sight to see how. when the 

 leader of a "school" of Sperm Whales is 

 attacked, his faithful wives will gather round 

 him. regardless of danger, though unable to 

 help. Many fantastic stories are told by whale- 

 men of this self-sacrificing propensity on the 

 part of the cow- whales, but they ha\ e no place 

 here. 



THE L.\TTICE FUNGUS 



BV EDW.VRD STEP, F.L.S. 



OxE of the most remarkable of the varied 

 forms of fungi is the Lattice Fungus, whose 

 earlier condition is shown on this page, and 

 whose full development appears on the 

 coloured plate. Emerging from the earth as 

 a gelatinous ball, its expansion causes the 

 rupture of its envelope. At this stage the 

 spaces in the lattice are tilled and the lattice- 

 bars covered with an olive slime, in w^hich the 

 spores are embedded. As the hollow sphere 

 increases in size this slime gets thinner and reveals the red colour of the lattice-work, which finally 

 stands clear and open like a network of coral, and measures three or four inches across. It varies 

 in colour from bright vermilion to dingy red. In the South of Europe it is a tolerably common 



fungus, but in this country it 

 is rare and of very limited 

 range. Its habitats are woods 

 and gardens ; but however 

 desirable it may appear to 

 have such a thing of beauty 

 coming up in one's garden, it 

 is not so in fact 

 an intolerable odour 

 produces headache. 



[/iv TTieo. Cftrreivi.i. 

 THE LATTICE FUNGUS. 



At first a soft egg. the fungus bursts its skin and enlarges 

 to a great extent, and ultimately appears like a network of 

 red coral. It has a disgusting odour. 



^1 



it gives off 

 which 



THE ORANGE 

 ELF-CUP 



The lower part of the coloured 



plate in which the Lattice 



natural size. The cups p^n^us appears is filled with 



are at first almost closed, but as ihey expand they also become shallower and. hnally. ^ ^ *^ 



almost flat. They are wax-like in appearance, and brittle thC WaX-likc CUpS Of anOthei" 



I'hoto &(/] 



THE ORANGE ELF-CUP. 



This brilliant little fungus is here shown only hair the 



[/.'. .<tep, F.L.S. 



