568 THE SMALLER FUNGI. 
long and contorted threads. They are species of Reestelia, the 
R. lacerata (Fig. 2; a, natural size, living on the leaves 
and fruit of the hawthorn; b, a portion magnified); cancel- 
Fig. 2 lata, mali, cornuta, and of the 
f Centridium cydonia, the spores 
of which are of ‘a light orange 
color. The leaves of the pine : and 
fir are sometimes attacked’ by the 
Peridermium, which in two spe 
cies alters the foliage and spoils 
the effect of the bri sha “In 
this genus the peridium bursts 
irregularly, and does not form 
cups or horns or fringed vessels.” 
The P. pini has been frequently 
noticed in’ this country. The 
common houseleek is, in England, attacked by a parasitical 
fungus of this family, which burrows in the pulpy tissue of 
its thick and succulent leaves, and hence called Endophy/- 
lum; but I can find no notice of its occurrence with us. 
“We have derived much pleasure,” says Mr. Cooke, “ 
viewing the astonishment and delight exhibited by miaii 
to whom we have pêrsonally communicated specimens of the 
little fungi we have enumerated for examination under the 
microscope ; and we recommend with confidence this group 
of parasitic plants, unfortunately ‘so little known, as well 
worthy the attention of all who are interested in the minute 
aspects of nature, and who can recognize the hand 

‘That sets a sun amidst the firmamen 
Or moulds a dewdrop, and lights up pA gem.” (p= 21.) 
To which we can but add our hearty assent, and only wish 
that investigations and studies so prolific of gratification were 
more universal, especially among the young. 
The spores of these smaller fungi have been spoken of “as 
a sort of seeds by which the plants to which they belong 37° 
propagated. This, as we shall now see, is not strictly WU 
