HOW MUSHROOMS ARE REPRODUCED. 
83 
Whether the fertilised spores are able to withstand great 
vicissitudes of temperature and still not lose their vitality is 
unknown, but if other living atoms are able to live in boiling 
fhiids, or be frozen and still live, it should be a matter of no 
surprise to find fungus-spores passing unscathed through similar 
ordeals. It is reasonable enough to imagine life to be main- 
tained under extraordinary conditions, but to me most un- 
reasonable to imagine life to spring from that which is without 
life. 
As the cells of decomposing fungi disappear, various infusoria 
at the same time swarm into being and take the place of the 
collapsed cells. On violently boiling these infusoria in test- 
tubes along with fragments of putrid fungi, for five minutes, 
and sealing at the highest point of ebullition, I find the in- 
fusoria, after one or two or three months, to be still alive. 
During this time putrefaction is arrested in the test-tubes, the 
decayed fragments of fungi remain the same, and the infusoria 
remain inert. On opening the flasks the infusoria are at first 
motionless, and life is apparently at a low ebb, but the indi- 
vidual infusoria, as watched under the microscope, rapidly regain 
their accustomed activity, and in a few hours are as full of life 
as if they had never been boiled. The decomposing fragments 
of fungi now rapidly give the fluid an offensive odour. 
Whilst able to resist the heat of boiling-point, these same 
infusoria are equally well able to resist cold, for during the 
frosts of the past month I froze decoctions of fungi containing 
infusoria into solid blocks of ice for a whole week. On thawing, 
after this time the bacteria, vibriones, monads, &c. were as 
full of life as before freezing. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE CXXXII. 
Fig. 1. Vertical section through gills and stem of Agaricus ( Hypholoma ) 
lacrymabundus (Fr.). e, Veil, r, drops on gill, g, drops on 
upper part of stem, natural size. 
Fig. 2. Vertical transverse section through edge of gill, with drops in 
situ. Enlarged 100 diameters. A, Trama. b, Cells forming 
Hymenium. c, Cystidium. d, Basidium. h, lowermost drop, 
containing cystidia and spores. 
Fig. 3. Cells of Hymenium. c, Cystidia, containing spermatozoids. D, 
Basidia, with spores attached, and triangular flat crystals from 
the juices of the plant. Enlarged 500 diameters. 
Fig. 4. Spore unpierced by spermatozoids, enlarged 3,000 diameters. 
Fig. 5. Spore pierced by spermatozoids, from a drop which had dried 
on the surface of the Hymenium. Enlarged 3,000 diameters. 
