782 General Notes. (July, 
BOTANY. 
NOTES ON THE STUDY OF Func!I.—In view of the increasing in- 
terest in the study of mycology in this country some general re- 
marks on this subject may not be out of place. In the first place, 
of course, here as elsewhere the question of uti/ity comes up. 
The reply to this question given by Batarra, an Italian botanist of 
the eighteenth century, is still applicable. In his “ Fungorum 
Agri Ariminenses Historia,’ published in 1755, in the chapter 
concerning the utility of Fungi, he says: 
“Since everything placed on the earth by the wisdom of the 
Creator has been created through some wise design, and since all 
other productions contribute in some way to the uses of living 
beings on the earth, it cannot rationally be denied that Fungi 
also were intended to serve some good purpose, for the ideas of 
the unlearned crowd who regard these productions as of no ac- 
count, and think that the tribe of Fungi might all be destroyed 
without causing any derangement in the economy of nature, and 
without detriment to the living beings on the earth, cannot be 
accepted by those who believe that God and nature made nothing 
in vain. We have to admit that the utility to be found in Fungi 
is not of the highest, yet this is not the fault of these productions 
themselves, but arises rather from the pride of men and their un- 
willingness to spend time and thought on those things which God 
in His wisdom was not ashamed to make. ‘ 
“To specify more definitely then, in the first place, Fungi fur- 
nish an abundant supply of food to many tribes of insects [a 
plea which will find no great favor with agriculturists, I suspect], 
“nor are they to be rejected as a means of sustenance for man. 
he mushroom, for example, and the morrel and various other 
kinds of esculent Fungi furnish an article of diet highly prized 
even on the tables of the rich.” 
Thus far Batarra’s reasoning has lost none of its force up oe 
the present time. But whatever opinion we may hold as to the 
absolute utility of Fungi themselves, it is certain that recent ma 
vestigations into the habits and mode of growth of some of the 
rot,” the “ grape rot,” the “ cranberry rot,” and the various ib 
molds and mildews with which we have to contend still remat" 
1 Edited by Pror. C. E. Bessey, Ames, Iowa. 
