MTJSHKOOMS. 
the gills beneath ; part 
of the volva remaining 
upon the stipe in a circu- 
lar form, and called an a7i- 
nulus^ or ring. " If the 
mushroom," says Nuttall, 
" be left for a time on a 
plate of glass, a powder 
will be found deposited; 
this is the seed, or organic 
germ {sporules). That 
these are capable of germination is evident to cultivators, who 
now form mushroom-beds by strewing the decayed plants on 
prepared beds of manure." A species of the genus Agaricus 
13 much valued for food. It is of a fine red or orange color ; 
the ancient Romans esteemed it as a great luxury. The genus 
Boletus contains the touch-wood^ or spunky which is sometimes 
used as tinder. The Lycopekdon contains the puif-balL 
!i91. The Cryptogamous plants are less understood than most 
of the visible works of nature. Philosophers have asserted 
that some of this race do not belong to the vegetable but to 
the animal kingdom ; having discovered insects in mushr'r?'^ 
they say, like the sponge and the corals, these should be clatSwvv.. 
among animal productions. Few, however, at present enter- 
tain this belief ; and the fact of their having been raised from 
seed (or bodies analogous to seeds) sprinkled on the earth 
proves them to be of vegetable growth. A curious field of in- 
quiry presents itself in the consideration of the difference be 
tween animal and vegetable life. 
292. From tlie obscurity in the structure of these phints the young pupil must 
expect to meet with difficulties in attempting to study them. It is well for man- 
kind that there are pliilosophers whom the enthusiasm of scientific pursuits will 
lead to spend years, even a whole life, in searching into the fructification of a moss, 
or mushroom, or in examining into the natural history of a gnat or spider.* 
Discoveries are thus continually brought forward which add to the general stock of 
knowledge. It is a kind of martyrdom in the cause of science, to which a few seem 
to be called by the powerful impulses of their own minds. 
293. We have completed our view of the vegetable world 
according to the order of the Linnsean classification ; in the 
course of which we have remarked upon the most conspicuous 
genera, and traced their natural relations. In many cases, de- 
parting from the plan of gereral remarks, we have examined 
the natural history of some one genus. In reading history we 
are often less interested in the fate of a whole people than in 
* The late Professor Eatoa once assured the Author that the study of spiders {Arachnology) w«$ 
oue of the most elegant and delightful of all pursuits. 
Mushrooms capable of germination.— 291. Cryptogamous plants little uaderstood.— 292. "BnthusioMW 
of some naturalists.— 293. View of classification completed — Remarks. 
9 
