240 



THAT'S IT ; 



of minute plants which require 

 close observation to discover 

 them; while others, such as the 

 appearances called mouldiness, 

 mildew, smut, mist, brand, dry-rot, 

 &c, can only be seen in detail 

 by the aid of a microscope. These 

 fungi, 1 to 20, will be found to 

 present very curious forms : some 

 spring from the surfaces of dead 

 leaves, as 1, 7, 9 ; others from 

 the decaying bark of stems and 

 trunks, as 2, 13, 14, 15, &c. 



Some are found among grass, 

 others on the trunks of living 

 trees, others on dead branches. 

 Some appear to make their fa- 

 vourite habitation the leaves of 

 the holly, as 7, others the leaves 

 of the oak, as 9 ; some are cup- 

 shaped, as 17; others are funnel- 

 shaped, as 14 ; others consist of 

 round spiry bodies, as 19 ; 

 while others are minute discs, 

 as 20. There are many other 

 curious forms. 



632. 



Fungi are among the most numerous of all 

 plants in respect to genera and species, so 

 abundant, indeed, that no one has yet at- 

 tempted to form an estimate of their numbers. 

 Fries asserts that he had discovered above two 

 thousand different species within the compass 

 of a square furlong, in Sweden. They usually 

 prefer damp, shady, dark, unventilated places, 

 such as cellars, vaults, the parts beneath 

 decaying bark, the hollows of trees, the denser 

 parts of woods and forests, or any decaying 

 matter placed in a damp and shady situation. 



We may here make a few hints of practical 

 utility, respecting the poisonous nature of some 

 of these plants. In gathering them, it is not 

 only necessary to observe that only the recog- 

 nised edible kinds are selected, but to see that 

 these grow in their natural situations, the open 

 meadows, for it has been found by fatal ex- 

 perience, that some species which are perfectly 

 harmless when raised in open meadows and 

 pasture lands, become virulently poisonous when 

 they grow in contact with stagnant water, or 

 putrescent animal and vegetable substances. 

 What the poison in fungi may be, has not yet 

 been accurately ascertained. Some, which have 



the undersides of the caps formed of tubes 



instead of gills, contain oxalic acid, and others 

 are supposed to contain prussic acid. 



We have already given par- 

 ticulars of various birds, 381, 

 and their nests, 401. But we 

 cannot quit the woods, without 

 bestowing a few thoughts upon 

 the beautiful and active creatures 

 that attend us in our forest 

 walks. 



The sparrow-hawk, 1, chooses 

 for its retreat the densest woods, 

 constructing a rude nest in the 

 hollow of a decayed trunk, or, 



