172 Mr . Bauer’s experiments on the colouring matter 
the thermometer was 2 6 degrees below freezing, I found 
them of nearly a black colour, and almost entirely raised 
up, and detached from the snow ; and when on the 13th 
of January the snow dissolved, the mass of fungi sunk to 
the bottom of the glass, and gradually changed their colour 
to a dirty brown, being evidently dead. 
The same experiment was repeated several times, and the 
result was always the same. I subsequently collected the 
different masses of fungi that had been made use of in these 
experiments, and immersed them in snow, in one glass, and 
exposed them to the open air, as in former experiments ; 
but though there was no visible change in the appearance 
whilst they were in the glass, I found, the latter end of 
January, when I examined them in the field of the micro- 
scope, that many new fungi had been produced during the 
time the dead sediment had been under the snow ; and that 
the newly produced fungi were not only small and co- 
lourless, but had also many full grown bright red fungi 
amongst them. From this circumstance I conclude, that 
though the excessive cold, and the exposure in the sharp air 
and wind, may kill the primitive fungi, their seeds still retain 
sufficient vitality to vegetate and propagate, if immersed in 
the snow, which appears to me to be undoubtedly the natural 
soil of those fungi. 
The season having passed by, I was unable to make any 
farther experiments on this subject. 
I have the honour to remain, &c. See. 
Francis Bauer. 
Kew Green, 
May 7, 1820 . 
