
570 THE SMALLER FUNGI. 
whilst on others their length does not exceed the width of. 
those just named.” (p. 25.) 
The evident effort of nature, then, in this process, is to pro- 
duce an ultimate condition of fungal life, which shall be sure 
to continue indefinitely the presence of the parasites upon the 
leaves and other parts of the higher plants. And this is 
done by the mycelium,* a system of the most subtle threads 
which can enter the tissues by attacking the seed when sown, 
and whose persistence of vitality enables it to endure the 
most trying circumstances unharmed. So vitalized indeed 
is the mycelium, that any fragment of it will vegetate and 
grow after long periods of desiccation. And its luxuriance 
of growth is in nowise dependent on any higher develop- 
ment, such as, were it the stems and leaves of a flower- 
ing plant, would sooner or later push forth blossoms and 
fruit. 
This vitality is taken advantage of in the cultivation of the 
edible fungi, such as the mushroom for example, where 
lumps of dried earth, permeated by the mycelium oF 
“spawn,” as it is technically called, are planted in prepared 
soil, and a profitable crop realized. It is also familiar to 
cultivators, that fruit trees and ornamental trees often lan- 
guish and die, owing to their roots reaching spots deep m 
the ground where decayed wood, filled with the “spawn” of 
some destructive fungus exists. Fortunately the awakening 
to active life, and to injurious growth, seems to depend on 
causes which do not always exist, such as atmospherical and 
similar conditions, else there were no chance of security 
from these annual scourges of agricultural industry- Fungi 
of every kind are therefore regarded as meteorological phe- 
nomena ; like a few of the higher plants, which appear n 
wide intervals, and then, sparsely. — To be concluded. 

* Mycelium, the fibrous portion of fungi, which grows underground min me 
of the plants upon which they ing, and i SEOSE 
dead plants. 

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