THE FUNGUS FAMILY. 



101 



wholesome wlien cooked, and in some parts of Germany is 

 preferred to mushrooms. 



Fly Agaric {Amanita muscaria). A common fungus of a 

 red colour ; when steeped in syrup it is used as a poison for 

 flies. It is of an intoxicating nature, and in Kamtchatka, 

 and other parts of Northern Asia, is used instead of ardent 

 spirits. When dried it loses its intoxicating and poisonous 

 properties, and is then stored for winter food. Puff-ball 

 {Lycoperdon bovista, or L. giganteura) commonly grow in 

 dry pastures, the chief difference between the two depend- 

 ing on size, which varies from a few inches to a foot or more 

 in diameter, some weighing as much as 6 lbs. They are of 

 a brown colour and globular form, solid when young, and 

 are then wholesome, cut in slices, and fried in butter. 

 When fully ripe and pressed with the hand, or trodden on, 

 they emit their spores in a dusty cloud resembling smoke. 

 German tinder (^Amadou or Moxa). A substance obtained 

 from Polyporus fomentarius, which grows on trees in this 

 country, but more abundantly in Germany, where it is col- 

 lected in large quantities, and forms a considerable article of 

 trade. It is cut in slices and beaten out, forming large sheets 

 like thick felt, which is used for warm underclothing, and 

 when mixed with saltpetre forms the substance known as 

 German tinder. 



Some fungi are phosphorescent, the most remarkable being 

 Ehizomorpha subterranea, which grows in mines, and gives to 

 those of Dresden quite an enchanted appearance. Many 

 species emit very offensive odours, especially Phallus foetidus^ 

 which grows in woods and damp shady places. Dry-rot consists 

 of the mycelium or spawn of several species of Boletus^ and 

 other fungi, which under certain circumstances of heat and 

 moisture attack woodwork in ships and houses, growing in 

 the dark, and rapidly increasing in bulk, first covering the 

 surface with a layer of thread-like filaments, which are con- 

 tinually being added to, and ultimately forming a thick, 

 leathery substance, as is often found behind the partitions of 



